


「 elemental 」— a modern fantasy LOONA au

by Helseivich



Category: BLACKPINK (Band), LOONA (Korea Band), Red Velvet (K-pop Band)
Genre: Alternate Reality, Alternate Timelines, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Doomed Timelines, Elemental Magic, F/F, Fantasy, Inspired by Final Fantasy XIV, Magic, Parallel Universes, Sorceresses, Swords & Sorcery, Urban Fantasy, also inspired by final fantasy xv and shounen anime in general, this is a lot of tags help
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-31
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2019-12-27 03:40:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 148,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18296105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Helseivich/pseuds/Helseivich
Summary: A sorcerer known as YG hell-bent on erasing reality. 12 sorceresses from parallel timelines, rescued from their extinguished worlds. Under the tutelage of Archmagus Jaden Jeong, their mission begins: to bring salvation to the multiverse.





	1. 「 episode 1; arc 1.1 」 —the final piece//lost mystic— 「 yeojin i 」

**Author's Note:**

> //cross-posted from my twitter, can access there if you prefer to read AUs on twitter image by image: https://twitter.com/Helseivich/status/1112170991478812672  
> (since i cant edit twitter, however, theres some slight errors i miss there that i then catch on here, so this ao3 hosted version is the definitive version of this story)  
> //first au and first written fic in general in ages, so i hope you enjoy  
> //super extremely absolutely inspired by final fantasy xiv and mmo games in general, final fantasy xv, as well as over the top shounen anime and sentai series  
> //crossovers with other girl groups likely, but main story focused on LOONA  
> //relationship pairings will be properly tagged once introduced assuming i can edit story tags after posting, never used ao3 before lmao whoops  
> //questions or comments if you don't like ao3 comments for some reason; https://curiouscat.me/Helseivich  
> //gonna shut up now and let yall read thanks for stopping by

「 episode 1; arc 1.1 」 —the final piece//lost mystic—「 yeojin i 」

_I was really hoping I’d be using to seeing them by now, but they’re still…unnerving._

The wind howled with a piercing sound, making her hair sway with a gust from behind as she looked ahead. Her brows furrowed. With a grimace, she sighed in exhaustion as they approached.

_Four, yeah? I’ve dealt with more passengers than this at once. I took down twenty once, didn’t I? It was twenty, wasn’t it? Maybe it was five. Just miscounted by fifteen, that's all. Completely understandable.  Still, that was more than this. So I’m fine. This is fine._

Despite confirming the count, she eyed each one again just to make sure. One, two, three, four. Four of those monstrosities gazing at her with their featureless faces from down the empty street. Vacant office buildings and storefronts closed them in on both sides. Abandoned vehicles filled the void of space between her and them. It eased her worries in the most minuscule way possible, which was better than nothing.

She felt her spine crawl with an uncomfortable shiver as the four of them each took one step forward. They staggered one after the other, their motions barely out of sync in a sort of organized discord. Their blank heads twisted and turned in an unpredictable fashion as their limbs shook uncontrollably. They would strike soon. She knew this much by now.

_Breathe, Yeojin. You’re a mystic. They’re passengers. Stupid dolls made of plastic. This is a good matchup. You’re paper, they’re rock. No, wait, you’re scissors and they’re paper. That sounds cooler, yeah. Who willingly picks paper, anyway? Okay. Breathe. Breathe…_

Following her own instructions, Yeojin collected herself and inhaled deeply. She felt doubt and anxiety flush out of her mind as fresh air filled her lungs. Another series of disjointed, frenetic steps from the passengers down the road came about in response, the glossy plastic of their mannequin bodies reflecting the sunlight from above. With every inch closer they came, Yeojin could see their ghostly white auras intensifying.

They were gathering ether. Their assault was imminent.

_I think I’m still in range of that astral highway to the south. That should give me more than enough ether to handle this._

Extending her arms down to her sides, Yeojin slowly exhaled.

_Feel it. Collect it._

Around her body, a thin mist of a dust-like substance began to coalesce. Jade green in color, the majority of it shifted to her hands as it continued to increase in density.

_Manipulate the ether. Form the circle. Connect the runes._

Beneath her, a circular outline of ether collected. It manifested into a shining green circle, shapes and letters within it quickly forming as an array of lines danced within it.

_Visualize it. The handle. Take shape. The steel. The edges. They’re mine. They answer to me._

In her hands, they began to materialize—a pair of daggers roughly a foot in length each. Hilts made of fine black leather spawned first. The cross-guard followed, and then the blade: double-edged, both sides so sharp that their appearance betrayed the history of their usage.

Down the middle of the blades, various symbols and letters that seemed almost hieroglyphic in nature were etched into the steel, similar in appearance to the ones in the circle beneath her. As her weapons constructed themselves to completion, the runes on the blades began to glow green. Mirroring this, Yeojin’s left eye began to wash over with the same hue, the color overwriting her dark brown iris.

Sensing a change in the atmosphere, the passengers froze for a moment. As Yeojin began to walk towards them, a blast of wind came from behind her, flowing down the street and pushing them away slightly. She remained unfazed, her posture and stroll entirely unaffected by the growing storm of raging air currents behind her.

_Alright, boys. What do you have for me today?_

Their bodies beginning to convulse erratically, the ether around the passengers started to shift towards different body parts. One of them redirected a dense mass of ether around their right arm, turning the appendage into a sword. What was initially soft plastic became as hardened and sharpened as her own daggers, the ether transforming the substance that composed its arm.

_Expected that. Way too common._

Another had ether collected around their left arm, and in no time at all, the plastic limb contorted disturbingly like clay until it expanded and hardened into the shape of a shield.

_Shields are boring. I'll have to subtract points for that._

The passenger behind the first two split its ether between both arms, both body parts twisting inwards until they formed long, lashing thorny whips.

_Whoa, alright. Calm down, Mr. Fantastic. Haven't seen one opt for that kind of weapon in a minute…_

The final one, in an even bigger surprise to Yeojin, concentrated its ether towards its hand. The substance swelled up in volume until it sunk into its palm, creating what looked like the barrel of a gun as its fingers fell to the floor.

_Oh, are you serious, dude? The fucking hand cannon? Again? That's the fourth one this week! Did you guys really give up on the crossbows? I mean, they were kinda dinky, yeah, but…ugh, what a pain in the ass. Sorry, man, but like usual, you're a high priority target. Anyway, can't be on my feet for this one…_

Halting her approach, Yeojin swapped one of her daggers to her other hand to reach into her pocket. Pulling out a smartphone and a pair of headphones, she connected them and fitted one into her right ear.

The turbulent winds that had been raging behind her collected around her in a visible jade cyclone. Coming together above her head, they then diverted into two streams down her sides, settling in by her white and red tennis shoes. With a light hop, Yeojin landed on two plates of streamlined currents beneath her feet, lifting her off the ground a few inches.

Finding her second earbud unnecessary, she set her music player to shuffle and lightly smiled to herself as she slotted her phone into the back pocket of her denim jeans.

_Okay. Hopefully this doesn't take longer than a couple of songs._

In the following instant, Yeojin was propelled forward by the currents beneath her feet.

She rode the wind like a deft ice skater, weaving around a four-door sedan in the way as the passengers down the road broke into a mad sprint forward. The awkward movements and jerky tremors of their bodies had vanished, now acting like regular human bodies possessed. They dashed with perfect form, the lack of life within them and ether surrounding their bodies allowing them to ignore limits of stamina.

The mannequin fitted with a blade leapt first, launching forward with a leap and its sword arm reared back. Nearing Yeojin, it slashed downwards with an explosive amount of force. Gliding forward as the passenger descended upon her, Yeojin didn’t so much as make any attempt to dodge—rather, she continued forward towards the other three as a sphere of wind ether quickly materialized to the left of the airborne passenger. A glowing circular crest similar to the previous came to life in front of her, moving with her as she quickly cleaved it from top to bottom with a dagger.

The moment the runic circle was severed, the sphere exploded outwards with a fierce gust of gale force winds. The sword armed passenger was tossed like a ragdoll towards the sidewalk, crashing through the display window of a decades old hair salon. Free to continue her charge, Yeojin barreled towards the cannon equipped mannequin. The air skates beneath her feet picked up speed as they spun more furiously.

From behind, the shielded one ran after her, going for what Yeojin could only imagine to be a full body shield bash. Nearing her target, she couldn’t help but smirk slightly as it raised its weapon up. It took clear aim at her as gray ether rapidly coalesced into a pulsating sphere of energy in the cannon's barrel.

Playing a dangerous game of chicken which she knew she could win, Yeojin challenged the cannoneer and contested it, not breaking her focused approach on him. She maintained speed until it gave in first, letting loose the ether it had gathered. With impressive reaction time, Yeojin lowered her body into a knee slide, the wind beneath her shoes moving up her legs and expanding into a blanket to protect herself being skinned by friction.

The sphere of ether flew clean over her head, now barreling towards the shielded unit which was running behind her. It barely had time to raise its shield. Unable to fully prepare a proper defensive stance, the passenger was subjected to heavy knockback of its ally's projectile. Sliding several yards down the road, it suffered a nasty crash into the side of a pickup truck.

Now beneath the legs of the shooter, Yeojin sliced another magic circle in two as it appeared to the left of her. With that cut, the blanket of wind beneath her expanded outwards, encompassing the area underneath her and the passenger. It then blasted upwards, catapulting both of them several stories high.

With no close range capabilities to speak of and far away from the assistance of its friends, the passenger was helpless as Yeojin grabbed it by the neck. Spinning around so she was above it while they neared the apex of their ascent, Yeojin pierced deep into its chest with a thrust of one of her blades. Writhing madly, the mannequin’s torso split open as Yeojin drove her dagger downwards and then to the side, opening a cavity in its hollow chest.

Where a person’s heart would’ve been, a small, jagged crystal colored dark gray was suspended by a web of dense ether within the passenger’s body. Grabbing the crystal, Yeojin’s descent was stalled as air currents formed beneath and behind her, keeping her airborne while her foe succumbed to gravity. As it fell, the web of ether stretched and stretched until the motionless passenger crashed into the concrete below. Smashing into pieces, the crystal broke free of its prison as the ether dissipated.

“Figured by now you guys would’ve adapted better to me zeroing in on your ranged support,” Yeojin spoke up to no one in particular, amusing herself as she pocketed the crystal. “Well, Mr. Shield at least tried, I guess. Anyway, the next ugly I should probably take care of is—”

Thorns digging into Yeojin’s leg cut her trash talking short. Looking to her right, she saw that the vined passenger had relocated to a nearby rooftop. Standing at its edge, its arm was extended fully, latching onto Yeojin tightly. Before she could react, she was flung downwards face-first at a breakneck speed.

Nearing the pavement, Yeojin closed her eyes as especially potent winds rushed upward from below her. Her momentum stalled, she opened her eyes again as her body was surrounded by a perceptible storm of verdant ether. The winds at her command quickly flipped her back over before collecting into an orb between her back and the ground. To her relief, the stubborn passenger still latched onto her refused to let go.

“I’ll just come to you, then!”

A runic circle of a noticeably bigger size than the previous ones materializing in front of her, Yeojin slashed through it with both of her daggers in a cross shape. As it was cut through, the sphere of wind beneath her increased exponentially in size before discharging with a great force, launching Yeojin back up into the air. Still anchored to her assailant as she careened into the sky, she continued to ascend until she was well above the passenger. It looked up at her from below, tilting its head as if its nonexistent mind was curious about her.

_Come on. Take the bait._

Yeojin's wish was granted as her enemy quickly yanked its arm down with a hefty amount of force, dragging the young girl down to earth quickly. A playful smile showed itself on her face as the distance was closed.

When she was a few feet above it, Yeojin's hair and unzipped hoodie flapped wildly as an exceptionally strong series of winds swept around her body, flipping her over vertically. The force of her sudden movement proved to be greater than the weakening hold the mannequin had on her as it suddenly found itself airborne, launched upwards and behind Yeojin with intense power. When it was positioned properly, Yeojin ran a dagger through the vines attached to her leg—not as hardened as the rest of its plastic body due to its malleable nature, a swift cut severed the limb without issue.

Losing its anchor to her, the passenger flew off at a dangerously high speed, crashing into a high rise tower several blocks down.

"Maybe I'll get your core later if I care enough for it," Yeojin made a mental note to herself as a gentle breeze held her steady, allowing her to land safely with both feet on the rooftop. "Now, what are Tweedledee and Tweedledum up to?"

Walking over to the edge, Yeojin scanned the street until she saw them. The sword-bearing and shield-bearing passengers had recollected themselves, standing side by side and looking straight up at her. Yeojin relaxed her shoulders, sighing lightly with a shake of her head as her stomach turned. "Need to find some food soon…gonna have to try to make this quick."

Jumping off the building, Yeojin made a steady descent carried by her winds. Touching down on the pavement again, she approached the two mannequins casually. Currents gathered and amplified behind her as she came close, but they stopped as she noticed something…strange.

"What the hell…?"

Not reacting to her approach, the two passengers looked at each other. With an eerie sort of calmness, the sword-armed doll grabbed the other's shoulder with its free hand and brought its bladed appendage up to its chest. Without warning, it violently thrust forward, piercing its comrade halfway through its sword.

Its empty shell of a torso ripped wide open, Yeojin felt a wave of unease come down upon her as the passenger reached into the open cavity it had created. It pulled out the crystal core that gave it false life, causing the shielded passenger to start shaking violently. Its body began to fall apart as its effective heart was removed. The web of ether that connected the crystal to it promptly fizzled out and vanished as the doll fell to the ground in pieces.

"Hey! Wasn't that your friend? What're you doing?!"

Knowing full well her words would get no response from the mindless monster, Yeojin still couldn't stop herself from crying out in confusion as she witnessed the remaining passenger tilt its head down. It stared at the gray crystal in its hand. Slowly, it raised its head to her. With an uncomfortable tilt of its head, it forcefully closed its fist and crushed the crystal to pieces.

Immediately, Yeojin was pushed back as an immense aura of ether began to radiate from the passenger's body. Bringing her arms up in front of her face, she summoned winds to push her forward from behind as she planted her feet. Sandwiched between its insanely powerful surge of energy outwards and her currents behind her, she fought to keep her small frame from being flung away.

"Since when do they…get this strong?!"

Looking up, Yeojin felt a fearful unease settle into her mind as a mass of ether coalesced in front of the passenger. Putting its free hand into the dusty cloud of ether, its entire arm ruptured with energy as it took the same form as the comrade it betrayed—it was now properly equipped with both a sword and a shield. Its aura slowly began to diminish, but not before the plastic material of its body began to change. The normally dark gray hue it was painted with was gradually washed over with a sinister shade of crimson.

Its forceful waves of might finally ceasing, Yeojin's winds stopped themselves as she took a deep breath. This wasn't normal. But more importantly, as the passenger returned to its combat ready self with its body no longer jerking erratically, this wasn't good.

"Hey, buddy, you level up or something?" Yeojin shouted, trying to calm her nerves and buy time as she thought of how best to handle a now more serious threat. "Can you put your new ability points into your speech stat so you can explain why you just killed your teammate? Friendly fire isn't even turned on!"

Yeojin's grip on her weapons tightened as the beast took a single step forward. On a factor beyond its predecessors, its intent to kill was almost palpable.

"Easy, easy. I get it, alright? I'll just turn around and—"

Yeojin was given no such opportunity as the passenger leapt down the street with almost incomprehensible speed, closing the gap between itself and her in the blink of an eye. Repeating the same maneuver it attempted before, it was poised to descend with a downward slash. The speed of its movements were now far too enhanced for Yeojin to properly evade, however, leaving her to only inhale sharply as gale force winds attempted to push it back.

As if it had anticipated her defensive play, the passenger brought up its shield arm and ducked beneath it. The decrease in its velocity minimized, it was able to continue through with its swing. Touching down on the ground as its blade came downward, Yeojin was left with only quick sidestep as her final option.

She wasn't fast enough.

She gasped for air as the sharpened sword arm struck her, the left sleeve of her hoodie being ripped open. The force of the strike launched her backwards, tossing her into the side of a broken down minivan.

Standing up slowly, Yeojin held her arm, breathing through her teeth as she examined her wound. The clean cut through the fabric of her hoodie had also slashed through the short sleeve of her black t-shirt underneath. Beneath that, the skin of her arm from her shoulder to her elbow was sliced open with a gash that was bleeding steadily.

Excruciating discomfort coursed through Yeojin's body as she leaned against the side of the vehicle, grimacing as she looked up. The passenger slowly approached her, the eyes it didn’t have piercing her with a murderous gaze.

"Yeah, no funny jokes or witty comebacks for this one, Yeojin," the wounded girl said to herself after another pained breath. "Can't do much to save face from a fucking plastic doll doing you in like this…"

Closing her eyes as it took another step forward, Yeojin attempted to muster what strength she could. She could move her arm, but not as quick as she would need to in order to fight. The winds around her were more of a breeze than anything else—her breathing wasn't steady enough to control them properly. This was only partly due to her injury; an encroaching sense of dread that multiplied with every inch closer the passenger came to her was making it difficult to stay calm.

"Twenty years isn't a bad run, I guess. That's a fifth of a century," Yeojin muttered to herself with a weak laugh, staggering backwards as the blood red monster stepped forward. "That's probably worth something, right?"

Her backwards stride coming to a halt as she tripped over the curb of the sidewalk, Yeojin fell onto the concrete with her back against the brick wall of a café. Looking up, her mind raced as she tried to formulate some sort of potential escape plan that she could pull off. She came up blank, shaking her head to herself as her body shivered.

The mannequin stepped up onto the sidewalk, standing above her for a moment. Unable to bring herself to stare into its face void of emotion, Yeojin closed her eyes.

_Mom…_

"Get up, kid."

_What…?_

Looking up with opened eyes, Yeojin scrambled backwards along the sidewalk. Her heartbeat skyrocketed as the woman spoke to her again.

"I know you heard me. Your legs are fine, so get up already!"

Her body processed the instructions before her mind processed the situation. Her weakened winds proving just enough to lift her, Yeojin flew back a small distance as she blinked in surprise.

"Who are you…?"

Before her, a woman over a head taller stood. Her black boots were firmly rooted in place as she held off the mannequin's weapon. She was equipped with what Yeojin could only call a greatsword. The sword itself was single-edged and almost as tall as the woman herself. Decorated with a long series of runes all over the blade, the flat edge of it had small icicles formed along the side of it.

She held onto the handle tightly with one hand while using the other hand placed on the middle of the steel to push upward, attempting to win over the mannequin in a contest of force. Ignoring Yeojin's inquiry, she remained wordless as she pushed forward. Through brute strength alone, she managed to launch the passenger back a fair distance. It slid to a stop in the center of the road as she took a deep breath.

Yeojin was left awestruck as the woman proceeded to drop her free hand off the sword, now carrying the massive slab of frozen iron with a single hand. Equipped with nothing else but jeans and a black tank top, Yeojin noticed the woman's physique. Her arms had well defined muscles sculpted into them, no doubt the result of consistent physical training.

The woman turned halfway, looking to Yeojin behind her. Her right eye was a shade of light brown mismatched by the icy sky blue of her left eye. "You alright, kid?"

"U-uh…yeah, I'm—"

Yeojin's affirmation proved to be a lie in progress as a wave of pain spread from her arm again. Despite just being saved from the brink of death, she was still in no condition to fight. She took a deep breath, holding onto her arm with a shake of her hand. "Okay, not alright, not alright…"

"Take it easy. Haseul will take care of that."

"Sooyoung!"

Hearing another voice, Yeojin looked behind her to see two more figures approaching from down the street.

_Actual people this far out of town…? Are they mystics like her…?_

The swordswoman known as Sooyoung turned back around, stepping onto the street and approaching the passenger. "The girl's fine," she called out to the approaching figures. Coming more into view, Yeojin saw that they were women Sooyoung's age. "Look after her, Haseul. Kahei, can you give me a hand with this one? It's enhanced."

"Alright!" the other woman answered in response, continuing forward while the first one ran to the side and approached Yeojin.

"Hey, are you alright? Where are you hurt?" the one Sooyoung called Haseul questioned Yeojin with concern, taking a look at the wound of her left arm. Deeming Yeojin's hoodie to be in the way, Haseul hurriedly began to remove it, causing Yeojin to wince as it was placed in her lap.

As Haseul started to examine her arm, Yeojin took notice of a steady current of wind gathering around the two of them. Knowing full well that it wasn't her handiwork given her current state, Yeojin was dumbfounded as Haseul's left eye washed over with the same verdant hue as her own.

"You guys really are like me, then?" Yeojin asked the older girl, being entirely ignored as she focused on checking her arm. "I didn't expect to run into other mystics, especially an ice mystic and another wind mystic. I've only seen fire and water ones before…"

"This cut isn't the deepest, but I need to purify it," Haseul spoke, disregarding Yeojin's curiosity. "If too much of that fiend's corrupted mana gets into your manastream, it won't be pretty."

"Mana? Manastream…?" Yeojin parroted, unable to make sense of Haseul's words.

"Right, that's probably not what you call it here," Haseul dismissively said with a shake of her head. "Exactly how much of this was the result of a direct hit?"

Yeojin blinked, her mind finding difficulty processing the question. "I don't…what do you mean?"

"Did your barrier mitigate the attack at all or did it break it before this?"

"B-barrier? Lady, what're you—"

"Did it hit your weakpoint? What was it? They need to know if that fiend is aligned to anything. Kahei!" Haseul suddenly called out, looking behind her. "Where's it placed on the wheel?"

"No alignment," the third woman spoke up from down the road. Coming to a stop behind Sooyoung, she glanced over the passenger with a discerning eye. "It's just neutral mana. No affinity for any element."

"So your barrier was just struck down, then. You weren't able to recharge it?" Haseul commented, concern in her voice doubling over as she looked down at Yeojin's sweater below. "Are the runes on this hoodie? I don't see any on your shirt…"

"I've got no idea what you're talking about!" Yeojin snapped more fiercely than she meant to. "You're not making any sense, lady! I don't know what you mean by barrier! The only runes I know are the ones on my daggers…"

"Really?" Haseul said in surprise, the winds at her command intensifying around them. "You must be a Neophyte sorceress, then. I'm sorry, I should have asked first."

"Haseul, get to higher ground!" Sooyoung shouted from down the street. Holding her greatsword with both hands, she took a ready stance as she brought it up, pointing it towards the passenger. "I don't want you taking enmity from me while you're healing her!"

"Got it!" Haseul called out in response. Standing up, she grabbed Yeojin's hoodie and tossed it over her shoulder. Reaching down, she helped the lightweight girl up and turned around. "Get on my back, okay?"

Doing as she was told, Yeojin looked over to Sooyoung and Kahei. The cold swordswoman was focused on the target in front of her, but Kahei flashed both Haseul and her a small smile before facing the passenger herself.

"They'll be fine," Haseul reassured Yeojin, sensing her worry. "The last people you have to worry about are those two."

"But…that thing, it's—"

Yeojin was interrupted by a furious storm of air currents circling her and Haseul. Far beyond the speed and intensity of any of her own winds, the wind at Haseul's command was both severe and precisely focused. Forming a very small tornado around them, it dispersed outwards and downwards, rocketing them both up high into the sky. It guided them to a nearby rooftop down the road, settling them by the edge of the building.

Landing safely, Yeojin eased herself to the floor as Haseul came to her left side, kneeling down next to her arm.

"Who are you guys?" Yeojin asked, her eyes fixated on Sooyoung and Kahei below. "Can they really take down that passenger? It's way stronger than the others…"

"Passengers? Is that what you call them here?" Haseul asked with a sort of childlike curiosity. Bringing her right hand up, she extended her index and middle fingers. Yeojin's attention was grasped momentarily as a powerful vortex of wind began to swirl around her two fingers, jade ether becoming incredibly dense at her fingertips. "We call them fiends. Sooyoung and Kahei have a lot of experience taking down all kinds of them."

"Try not to move, okay?" Haseul instructed as the ether at her fingertips began to extend out towards Yeojin's wound. "I need to purify your manastream. After that, I can seal this wound since it thankfully isn't too severe."

"It _feels_ severe," Yeojin whined, still feeling measurable pain coming from her arm.

"How long have you been fighting fiends?"

"A few months, maybe? Three or four…I can’t remember exactly when they exiled me. I've been on my own ever since."

"Exiled?" Haseul repeated, her voice lowering slightly. The mass of ether at her fingertips continued to extend, now making contact with Yeojin's wound. It went further still, sliding through the gash and going into Yeojin's body.

Reflexively, Yeojin shivered slightly, but the feeling was quickly overwritten by a comforting warmth. Like a fast-acting pain killer, the ether at Haseul's control was steadily washing away the pain in Yeojin's arm. With every passing second, Yeojin's breathing returned to normal, and with it, her winds that she grew reliant on returned to her sides. Both her and Haseul's hair swayed lightly as it passed them.

"Why did they exile you?" Haseul asked without breaking her focus. Yeojin felt at ease seeing Haseul tend to her wound. Her short, neatly combed neck-length hair reminded her of…

_Her presence…why does it feel like…_

"Ah, uh…it's b-because I'm a mystic," Yeojin fumbled on her words briefly as she collected herself. "Most people around here don't want anything to do with us. They think we're…the source of the problem. As if it's our fault the passengers started showing up and…killing people…"

"An unfortunate similarity that I was really hoping we wouldn't have in common," Haseul murmured with a defeated sigh. The stream of ether between her fingers and Yeojin's arm was starting to turn into a deep shade of gray. "How many universes are like this, I wonder? How many realities are we going to find where elementalism is frowned upon…?"

"Uh, Haseul, was it? What exactly are you talking about?"

"What's your name?"

"Huh? Uh, it's Yeojin," the younger girl introduced herself, her question once again brushed off.

"It's nice to meet you, Yeojin. Can you do me a favor and focus on your breathing for a moment?"

Nodding slowly, Yeojin kept her curious mind at bay and instead redirected her thoughts to her breathing. Turning her head back down towards the road, she gulped slightly upon seeing the crimson passenger on the road below looking up at her.

"Eyes on me," Sooyoung addressed the monster.

To the left of her, ether began to coalesce. Unlike Yeojin's or Haseul's, Sooyoung's ether was light blue in color, matching the hue of her altered eye. The ether collected, becoming more and more dense until it took the shape of a small, jagged icicle. In front of its pointed end, a runic circle materialized, looking almost like a snowflake from afar to Yeojin.

Sooyoung's colored eye glowed for a moment as the icicle suddenly shot forth, breaking the circle through the middle. Shattering, the ether from the circle hastily formed into a line and shot forward as well, following the icicle.

"It's got a shield," Yeojin commented to no one in particular, tilting her head. "A tiny icicle isn't gonna do anything…"

"She's drawing its attention and establishing enmity," Haseul explained, having briefly glanced down below before refocusing on Yeojin's arm.

"Enmity? You don't mean like she's taking aggro, do you? She's…tanking? Like in an MMO?"

"Yeah, pretty much. It's really the best way to describe it. You can blame Jinsol for that one. She was pretty insistent on calling it that. And now, after getting to know Hyejoo a bit, I understand why she got behind it as well. She really loves her video games…"

The icicle was firmly lodged into the surface of the passenger's shield upon contact. As Yeojin predicted, it wasn't effective as an attack. However, she was wide-eyed as the monster's focus had finally shifted away from her.

Slowly, it turned its head to Sooyoung. The stream of ether following the frozen projectile followed through, and on contact with the passenger, it quickly expanded into a thin mist around it. The passenger's stoic form started to break as it was enveloped in the cloud of Sooyoung's ether. Its body jerked in a gradually increasing frenzy, seemingly experiencing some form of pain.

"Don't take too much, Sooyoung," Kahei advised, pushing up her square-rimmed glasses as a breeze of wind rustled her auburn hair. "You don't want to make Haseul have to extract corrupted mana from a second person today."

"Wonder how many of these things we have to take down before you stop worrying about me?" Sooyoung asked with a smirk.

In unison, Sooyoung's tranquil form and the passenger's quivering frame started to glow together. Gray ether came off of the passenger and started to aggregate at the icicle she had shot forward. It traveled down the ether stream between them, coming to Sooyoung who was absorbing it with every breath. With every moment it was being drained of its life force, the mannequin's body continued to twist and contort beyond its control. After its seizure picked up in speed, it abruptly stopped without warning.

"There we go."

Freezing in place, the passenger expelled a massive wave of energy, shattering the icicle in its shield. The wave was strong enough to move some of the vehicles on the road slightly, even dislodging a rusted bus stop sign. As it passed by Sooyoung and Kahei, they remained unaffected by it, not even so much as budging slightly.

Yeojin caught glimpse of their bodies briefly shining with reflected light, as if they were coated in some sort of glossy paint. In that moment, a large rune on Sooyoung's tank top and a series of smaller ones on Kahei's long sleeved sweater became visible, glowing intensely. When the force exerted by the passenger subsided, the runes vanished into the fabric as if they were never there, and the two girls stopped glowing.

"Tch. Trying to break our shields with just a wave of energy?" Sooyoung said with an insulted scowl. "I really hate when they try to disrespect me like that."

"Still, the fact that it was able to trigger our barriers with that alone means we need to be careful," the quieter girl lectured, her analytical eyes behind her glasses sizing up the passenger. "The mana output of enhanced fiends is—"

"—up to tenfold of normal fiends. I know. I'm a Master sorceress just like you, in case you forgot," Sooyoung reminded her with a playful tone that was teasing more than anything else. Kahei laughed softly in response, but her face straightened again as the passenger's posture equally straightened out.

No longer convulsing uncontrollably, it stood perfectly still. Yeojin felt the same sensation that sent chills down her spine not long ago. It was the same murderous intent.

"Got any ideas, then? Preferably one that involves us cutting that shield off?"

"A few, but with Haseul preoccupied, we're a little limited," Kahei reasoned. Extending an outstretched arm, she opened her hand as a brown runic circle materialized beneath her. In the palm of her hand, ether began to collect—mahogany in color, it grew dense until it rushed outwards, taking the shape of what looked to be a rod.

A soft flash of light went off as it took form in her hands: a metallic staff roughly four feet in length. On top of it sat a glass globe, and within the glass globe a brown crystal was suspended in a cloud of ether. Both the staff and the glass had a mind-boggling amount of runes and symbols cut into them, even more than Sooyoung's greatsword.

"You said this one didn't have an element, right?"

"That's correct. No alignment, neutral mana."

"Then let's go all out, elemental wheel be damned," Sooyoung announced. Pointing her sword down and rearing it back, she stabbed the concrete at an angle as she breathed in the remaining ash-colored ether surrounding her. With a deep exhale from Sooyoung, a sudden chill took over the city street, reaching high enough that Yeojin found herself shivering uncomfortably.

"Does she really have to make it so cold?!" Yeojin complained, feeling chills crawl all over her. "This kind of weather sucks!"

Silently, Haseul extended her free hand. With an open palm, she took a deep breath as bright red ether began to take shape in her grasp. Yeojin looked towards the ether and gasped slightly as a sphere of flame took shape. Exhaling, the blazing sphere in Haseul's hand flew up just above the two of them before expanding into a ring of flame.

The ring floated back down, surrounding Yeojin and Haseul. Yeojin felt warmth caress her skin once again as Haseul continued to mend her wound. She looked to Haseul with a flabbergasted expression.

"That was…but you're connected to the wind like me. So how did you…?"

" _Breathe_ , Yeojin. Breathe."

Doing so, Yeojin nodded and focused on her breathing once more. Looking back down to Sooyoung and Kahei below, she was taken aback to see that the entire city street had become covered in ice.

"Sooyoung, I don't believe I have to remind you how I'm not proficient with ice," Kahei complained with a sigh. "Is this necessary?"

"Sorry, Kahei. You know how I work when I'm with you and Haseul. You know what to do, right?" Sooyoung teased, looking to her with a playful grin.

"Fine, fine," Kahei gave in, shaking her head with a smile. Looking forward, Kahei lifted her staff to the sky as several mahogany-colored runic circles began to spawn all over the street. As the circles came to completion, the ground around them started to shake with increasing seismic forces.

The crystal encased in Kahei's staff began spinning slowly, stopping as Kahei lightly tapped the floor beneath her with the bottom of her staff. Instantly, streams of her ether from the circles erupted towards the sky. The road began to split into several pieces as pillars of rock and earth shot up from below. They reached up to variable heights, some shorter than Kahei herself and others reaching up a bit above Yeojin and Haseul on the rooftop.

Another circle materialized beneath Kahei, a pillar underneath her slowly rising up to allow her to jump onto the next closest one. Three or four feet in the air above Sooyoung now, Kahei was comfortably perched on her stone tower with easy access to a network of other vantage points which surrounded the passenger.

"I don't really want to try my luck ice skating against a fiend like this," Kahei explained to her comrade below. "You're fine with this formation, right?"

"Even if I wasn't, you've already went and ruined the delicate planning of hard-working civil engineers," Sooyoung joked with a roll of her eyes, taking in the sight of the fractured road. "The hours they must've spent designing these streets…it's always you Earth-aligned ones, isn't it? No respect for the dead."

"Don't let Hyunjin hear you say that," Kahei said with a smile. The relaxed atmosphere between Sooyoung and Kahei quickly returned to a serious one as the passenger took a step forward. It slid, but only slightly, regaining its posture.

"The floor isn't going to hold it back for long," Sooyoung deduced, pulling her greatsword out of the ground. Taking her stance again, she walked forward with caution. Her steps were delicately calculated, her stride not succumbing to the slippery ice below her. "These damn enhanced ones always adapt so much faster."

"Will you need much more time, Haseul?" Kahei called out towards Haseul and Yeojin below her.

"Her manastream is purified, but I need to seal the wound," Haseul responded. The ether link between her fingers and Yeojin's arms was once again a vibrant verdant hue. Yeojin herself had felt a majority of the pain flush away by now, but there was the lingering sensation of the gash in her arm.

The mass of ether at Haseul's fingertips reformed and expanded into a misty cloud around her ether-covered hand. Stretching her fingers, it settled around her hand as small focused points of it took shape at each fingertip. "It's going to be a few minutes," Haseul said. "Can you handle yourselves?"

An extremely loud noise answered Haseul's question.

It was the cracking of ice as a massive wall of frost a few yards behind Kahei's furthest pillar instantly formed. In the opposite direction, a similar wall practically blinked into existence, icy ether growing so dense that it wildly expanded into a barricade.

The walls extended high up above most of the buildings on the road, effectively trapping the four of them in with the passenger. The top of both formations were spiky, littered with jagged ends pointing to the sky. There was clearly a distinct lack of concern with the formation and presentation of the architectural wonder, proving itself to be more of a show of force than anything else.

Sooyoung looked up to Haseul, giving her a smug smile and lifting an eyebrow in a taunting fashion.

"Okay, Miss Ha Sooyoung, please forgive me and forget I asked," Haseul muttered with an exaggerated roll of her eyes, bringing her attention back to her patient.

Haseul took a steady breath in as she brought her hand closer to Yeojin's wound. Yeojin felt a sudden close warmth as she witnessed the focused ether at Haseul's thumb suddenly transform in color, from green to red. Not only could she control multiple elements, but she could change one into the other…?

"Normally, I'd just get you some antibiotics so I can skip this part, but I don't have any on me right now. I'm going to have to cauterize the wound to stop the bleeding and minimize any chance of infection before I stitch it with mana. You need to stay as still as possible, even if it hurts," Haseul softly commanded. "Can you do that for me, Yeojin?"

"O-okay," Yeojin stammered, feeling a strange mix of terrified and amazed. Haseul brought her thumb just above the laceration, producing a whimper from Yeojin.

Keeping her body still, Yeojin endured the burning sensation as Haseul traced the path of the wound all the way down. She repeated the path once, controlling the temperature of the fire at her fingertip and lessening it for the second go. Pulling her thumb back, Haseul transformed the flaming ether back to wind. 

"Stay still," Haseul repeated calmly. A current swirled around her hand briefly, giving shape to a web of ether that took root in the palm of her hand. Spreading her fingers again, they were all connected by zigzagging lines of dense ether between them. "I'm going to stitch it up now."

Wordlessly, Yeojin nodded as Haseul held open the wound, using the ether like a needle. Haseul created various anchor points of dense ether around the wound which sunk into Yeojin's skin before connecting them slowly.

"I had no idea you could use the wind like this," Yeojin admitted, the entire process coming as a surprise to her.

"Air is primarily a healing-based element to begin with," Haseul explained. "It excels in team support and the treatment of wounds."

Yeojin felt more and more of the ever present pain in her arm dissipate as her stitches were sewn. "You mean it's not really meant to be used offensively? Like to fight passengers? I guess I've got it all wrong, then…"

"It's not that you can't or shouldn't use air-based attacks and spells to fight," Haseul clarified. "It's just that the other elements are much more suited for it. The only element less offensively capable than air is light, but light is uncontested when it comes to healing."

"There's a light-based element? I didn't even know that."

"Chaewon can tell you all about it, if you'd like. She's naturally aligned with it, and we're very lucky to have her," Haseul smiled. "There's a lot all of us can teach you."

Yeojin found it difficult to respond. Haseul didn't force the conversation to continue, instead focusing on finalizing Yeojin's operation.

There was a strange feeling bouncing around Yeojin's mind. She was scared to accept it, fearful that things might be too good to be true. The last time she let herself think things would be alright, she…

_Mom…_

"Looks like the mid-boss is getting ready to attack, Sooyoung."

Kahei's voice brought Yeojin out of her thoughts. She looked down below to Sooyoung and the passenger.

Sooyoung had her body turned to the right, holding her greatsword low to the ground behind her. Her shoulders dropped slightly as her body relaxed. Taking a deep breath, her cold eye glimmered with a blue shine as several runic circles spawned around her. Another chill swept by the area, but Haseul's ring of fire kept Yeojin from shivering too much.

"Why does Jinsol insist on calling them mid-bosses?" Sooyoung inquired in disbelief. "I don't know what's worse, her naming conventions or Archmagus Jeong rolling with it."

"Well, whatever. An enhanced fiend, a mid-boss…I really could not give less of a shit about what you are," Sooyoung stated towards the lifeless creature. The meaning of her words beyond its nonexistent mental capacity, it quietly lifted its sword and shield, planting its feet firmly. Its centralized focus on Sooyoung didn't break as mahogany ether started to coalesce above it.

Increasing in density, Kahei's ether broke apart into smaller clouds before materializing into variously sized stalagmites, the crystal in her staff pulsating with energy. The staff-wielding sorceress kept her breathing steady as she suspended the rocks above the passenger, waiting for Sooyoung's signal.

In a similar fashion, clouds of icy ether surrounded the runic circles that encircled Sooyoung, transforming into an array of icicles behind her. They floated carefully, aimed at the fiend in front of her.

With a focus, determined breath, Sooyoung's eyes narrowed.

"Alright. Let's get this over with."


	2. 「 episode 2; arc 1.2 」 —the final piece//saying goodbye— 「 yeojin ii 」

**「 episode 2; arc 1.2 **」** —the final piece//saying goodbye—** **「** **yeojin ii** **」**

The plan set in motion by the two high-level mystics left Yeojin in a baffled sort of wonder.

Just moments prior, Sooyoung had initiated combat with the scarlet passenger in an explosive maneuver—small pillars of ice expelled themselves upward from the frost underneath her feet with great force, launching her skywards.

Synchronized with her immediate ascent, the collection of icicles behind her turned inwards and were propelled forward without warning. Too sudden for it to step out of the way, the passenger was forced to go on the defensive. It raised its shield in front of it and ducked behind cover, protecting itself from a flurry of jagged pain as the icicles steadily stabbed into it.

As Sooyoung quickly reached the apex of her ascent, her voice boomed. "Now, Kahei!"

With permission now granted, Kahei's left eye briefly lit up with an amber glow. The crystal in her staff resonated with her as it released a pulse of ether, signaling the onset of her attack.

The stalagmites poised above the passenger began to plummet towards the earth below with intense velocity. The sharp rocks pierced their way into the back and shoulders of the fiend, becoming lodged into its body. The toughened plastic of its torso started to crack as more and more of Kahei's projectiles stabbed into it. The onslaught of earth and ice began to weaken its constitution, its defensive stance visibly losing form.

The rush of pointed aerial stones showed no signs of stopping, more quickly taking shape and shooting down as their numbers started to diminish. With her torrent still assailing their enemy, Kahei breathed in as she freed one of her hands from her staff and extended it towards Sooyoung.

As Kahei exhaled, a sizable mass of dense ether coalesced at a startling speed behind the airborne mystic. With her breath, a large runic circle simultaneously materialized in front of Kahei's outstretched index and middle finger. The chestnut ether behind Sooyoung wasted no time thinning out into a vertical line, reaching all the way down to the ground and spreading out there.

Her framework laid, Kahei pierced the runic circle with a forward thrust of her fingers. As it shattered, the tall collection of ether took the form of another pillar stationed directly behind Sooyoung and the staggering passenger.

Working in tandem with her ally, Sooyoung's sky blue eye shimmered brilliantly as a paper-thin misty cloud of cyan aggregated onto the surface of the rocky formation. It instantly transformed into a sheet of ice along the side of it. As far as Yeojin could tell, both of their actions occurred within a single moment. The degree of synchronization present between the two of them felt like the eighth wonder of the world to her.

As her descent began, Sooyoung shifted her body back slightly and lined her feet up with the frozen side of Kahei's newest structure. Making contact, she leaned forward and glided down the frozen slide, coming back down towards her enemy at a breakneck speed.

Yeojin couldn't help but crack a smile as the realization hit her.

"That was her answer for a crazy fast dive, wasn't it?" the young girl suggested. "She's dropping way faster than she would have if she let herself fall normally! I kinda do the same thing too! Just, uh, not as cool looking…"

"More or less, yes," Haseul affirmed, her fingers working her ether needle across the remainder of Yeojin's wound. "Normally I would do it for her, but they managed to replicate a similar setup without much communication. Sooyoung and Kahei's long history with each other really shows itself when they fight together. That's why I said you shouldn't worry about them. Even less so once I finish up here and can properly help them out…"

Glancing over to Haseul, Yeojin's smile faded into a downcast frown. "I'm, uh…I'm sorry that you have to babysit me, Haseul."

"Don't apologize."

"W-what?"

"None of this is your fault. Not a single part of it," Haseul remarked calmly, betraying Yeojin's expectations of a raised tone. "You absolutely need to understand and accept that you aren't to blame for what's happening right now."

"But I—"

" _Please_ , Yeojin," Haseul softly commanded, preventing the girl from turning even the slightest in an attempt to face her. "The energy you spend needlessly apologizing for a situation out of your control is much better spent on staying still so I can finish this up."

Silently, Yeojin gave Haseul a small nod. Her eyes still fixated on the older woman, Yeojin was feeling particularly perplexed. It was a strange, positive sort of confusion. Haseul's deep, invested concern for the wellbeing of a complete stranger on levels both physical and emotional was something the young girl hadn't seen or experienced in a fair while. Her heart felt full knowing that there were good people still around.

An exceptionally loud noise summoned Yeojin's attention back to Sooyoung and Kahei.

On the road below, the swordswoman had just leapt off the frosted column of earth. With a tremendous amount of speed gathered from her sliding descent, her body was curled slightly as she held her giant weapon in front of her with both hands. Pointed to the ground below and positioned right above the passenger, her extreme velocity added an immeasurable amount of force to the piercing thrust she brought upon its raised shield.

With a loud crack, her sword forced its way through the shield. Digging several inches into it, Sooyoung's weapon was also now lodged into the arm that acted as the handle for the shield. Despite her powerful strike, the shield suffered only moderate damage. The passenger had found the strength to anchor just one of its feet to the frozen pavement more securely even in the midst of Kahei's barrage.

The cracks stemming from Sooyoung's implanted steel gave way slightly, but stopped before long. The doll's frame briefly surged with an intense aura, but it didn't act as it settled down.

"Not bad…" Sooyoung murmured with a neutral expression that shifted into a scowl, "…for a mindless puppet, anyway."

Sooyoung's odd eye momentarily glossed over with light as cyan ether started to coalesce near her hands.

Still grasping onto her greatsword, she breathed in and held her breath for a split second before exhaling. The blue hue of her newly summoned dust quickly transitioned into a bright red and settled into a line on her blade. It went down the edge and onto the shield's surface where it then expanded into a thin blanket over it.

The fiend made an attempt to wriggle free from her hold but was promptly stopped by a resumed hailstorm of stalagmites. Leaping over to another vantage point closer to the ground, Kahei continued her assault. All attempts the doll made to move in the slightest were subjugated.

A sizzling noise snapped as the edge of Sooyoung's greatsword suddenly burned to life with an orange flame. The trail of ether acting as a gas line, the flames cascaded down the steel until it reached the shield. The pool of ether on the shield ignited a wave of fire that quickly washed over it and burned steadily.

Yeojin blinked in surprise. "Aha!" she cheered quietly to herself, the scene unfolding before her distracting her from her operation. Having had pieced together Sooyoung's plan in her head early once again, she giggled excitedly. "So that's what you were gunning for…!"

A smile crept on Sooyoung's face as she breathed in.

The blazing blanket set atop the shield exponentially intensified in the blink of an eye, a blast of heat erupting from it and causing Sooyoung's hair to flow wildly. The passenger looked down towards its protective appendage as it continued to suffer a downpour of Kahei's stony weaponry. It tilted its head slowly, as if it suddenly understood the unfortunate situation it was in.

Like snow underneath a flamethrower, the icicles that had pierced the shield earlier were now melting absurdly quickly. As they thawed into liquid, the flames at Sooyoung's control snuffed themselves out before they could begin to evaporate the water. Now sufficiently damp with moisture, Sooyoung quickly exhaled.

A substantial mass of icy ether took shape around the passenger's shield and its arm anchored to it. As it coalesced, the entirety of the shield's surface was covered with rock solid ice so quickly that Yeojin didn't even see the water freeze.

The ice extended halfway up its arm, effectively freezing the whole appendage in place. A single, quiet crack sounded off at the center of the shield—Sooyoung had pulled down on her sword gently as she finally touched ground, the passenger's opposing force no holding keeping her airborne. Leaning backwards, Sooyoung flashed her foe a quick smile.

"I'll be taking this thing off now."

The muscles in her arms tensing up, Sooyoung twisted her upper body to the left and pulled hard to the right with both hands. She drove her impaled sword further and further into the frozen shield, the cracks on it rapidly spreading like veins until there was nowhere else for them to go. An array of earsplitting noises ricocheted within the walled in city street as the passenger's shield and arm split into thousands of tiny frozen shards.

Following through with the resulting spinning momentum of her body that occurred as she broke free of her anchor, Sooyoung dexterously slid towards and around a turned over car. She emerged from behind the vehicle with a low stance, her greatsword at her waist and pointed behind her. Her body was still and composed as she glided on the ice, maintaining a form so perfect that Yeojin felt like she was watching an esteemed athlete.

The image was suddenly stained, however, as a closed fist came inches away from Sooyoung's abdomen.

"H-hey, watch out!"

"Shit…!"

Sooyoung suddenly found herself covered in a coat of mirrored light.

The rune on her tank top shined fiercely as a red, plastic fist slammed hard into her barrier. Even as it met the resistance of her shield, the fist continued to exert force into it. The density of the ether being emitted from Sooyoung's shirt steadily dwindled. When the fist's momentum stopped a moment later, a burst of energy exploded between them from Sooyoung's core, pushing both her and her attacker back. Inflicted with more severe recoil, she slid backwards on her feet several meters across the ice compared to the minimal knockback the passenger suffered.

The force of the attack had disarmed her of her weapon, but it vanished into thin air before it could even hit the ground.  The instant Sooyoung lost hold of it, a large cyan runic circle had spawned at the tip of it—the weapon evaporated into ether as the circle hurried across it, practically swallowing it whole. Once it was fully dissolved, another runic circle materialized around Sooyoung's wrist. Following the same motion, it rushed upwards as the blade was hastily reconstructed in perfect fashion.

No longer unarmed, Sooyoung took a sharp breath as she violently stabbed the icy pavement below her, seeking an immediate recovery. The deceleration of her slide came about quickly as she became anchored to the ground,speeding up her arrival to a full stop. A deep, long cut in the frozen floor from her departure point came to an end as she lifted the slab of steel.

"Tch."

For the first time, Yeojin saw the tiniest bit of frustration display itself on Sooyoung's face.

Leaping a few vantage points over, Kahei stood atop a short pillar near her recovering ally, concern washing over her face. "Sooyoung! I'm sorry, that happened too fast for me to form anything…"

"It's fine," Sooyoung reassured her friend, her cold gaze still focused on the fiend down the road. Her barrier began to flash for a moment, a large series of cracks present by her stomach. "I've never seen one change to a different weapon type so fast. That was a cheeky sucker punch…"

Yeojin barely caught glimpse of it herself. In a span of time too quick for her to have measured, the passenger's bladed arm had unbelievably reformed itself into a standard arm and fist. It was beyond her understanding how it had managed to transform it so quickly; for all of the passengers that she had taken down, not once had she seen one shift a limb with such haste. Granted, today was also the first day she witnessed one of them willingly kill another one of its own kind for its own personal gain…Yeojin shuddered with troubled discomfort as she remembered the scene again.

"That wasn't a sucker punch. That was simply a potential action that you should've accounted for."

A raging series of turbulent currents accompanied Haseul's voice. Yeojin looked to the left of her, but blinked as she realized Haseul wasn't there. Looking up and then down, she watched Haseul carry herself to the road below to approach her fellow mystics. The frozen pavement was of no trouble for her to walk on, much like Sooyoung. Yeojin's eyes darted back to her left arm.

"Already…?"

The open cut on her arm was slowly but surely sealing itself up. Haseul's ether thread was connected between all of the anchor points on both sides of the gash. The thread gradually released ether as it dissipated, causing Yeojin's skin to slowly pull itself back together. With masterful control of the wind at her fingertips, Haseul brought about a hyper accelerated form of a stitching job.

"Trying to look cool in front of your patient?" Sooyoung asked.

The patient in question stood up from her seat at the edge of rooftop. Feeling her vitality come back to her, she had to fight the instinct to jump down on a stream of wind to join the battle. As much as she wanted to help the ones who so bravely saved her, the image of Haseul being disappointed with her kept her from any rash decision making.

 _It's not like its shield being destroyed suddenly puts me on par with that passenger anyway,_ Yeojin admitted to herself, grimacing with a sigh. _This thing is beyond my pay grade. I should stay out of their way and let them handle it. That dumb doll really doesn't stand a chance now with Haseul back by their side._

"It was collecting mana this whole time, even before you two started your assault," Haseul explained, not giving Sooyoung's banter the time of day. Approaching Sooyoung, she stood to the side of her and extended an open palm towards the swordswoman's stomach. In response, Sooyoung turned halfway, holding her greatsword on her shoulder with a single hand. She placed her other hand on her waist as verdant ether began to materialize within Haseul's palm.

"I should have known better," Kahei remarked, her brows furrowing as she shouldered the blame for their misstep. She and Sooyoung both kept a steady watch on the scarlet mannequin. Haseul's close presence incited another series of erratic body movements from it as it turned its head in her direction. "I'm sorry, Sooyoung."

"Stop apologizing for something that was my fault," Sooyoung coldly stated with authority. Her words rang in Yeojin's ears, reminding her of what Haseul had told her not even minutes ago…even if it was far more stern. "You did exactly as you should have, Kahei. Any less concentration on your end and it would've had managed a better defensive stance against me. I only got that shield off thanks to your offense."

"I did notice the mana it was building up," Sooyoung addressed Haseul indirectly with a clear and level tone, her eyes still locked onto the convulsing doll. It was clear to Yeojin that she wasn't trying to save face, but was instead simply being honest about her mistake.

"You know how these things just love using mana for outward bursts of energy," she continued. "I figured it'd try it again, so I readied a counter-play for that option, but it made a last second decision and refocused all of its mana into its sword arm. You'd then think it'd use that for an augmented slashing attack, but then it took it a further step forward and jumped another hoop. It actually went and used the mana to accelerate a new transformation…"

Sooyoung scowled. "I've never had one actually get into my head like that. Really feels like it knew what I was going to do…"

"They're not like they were all those years ago," Haseul lamented with a shake of her head. In the palm of her hand, a small sphere of concentrated winds had formed.

Haseul's forearm became wrapped in a gentle breeze. It swept forwards, carrying the sphere floated towards Sooyoung's tank top. Coming into contact with it, the barrier rune imbued into the black fabric showed itself with a dull flash of light. The shirt whipped wildly as it appeared to suck the wind into the rune. "It really seems that with every universe they destroy, they get a little bit stronger and a little bit smarter," Haseul pondered. "It wasn't that noticeable after the first few enhanced ones, but now…"

Haseul's voice trailed off as a vortex materialized around Sooyoung. The hair of the three mystics flailed madly for a moment as the whirlwind encompassing Sooyoung raged furiously. As quickly as it spawned and increased in potency, it ceased just as fast.

When the swordswoman emerged from the vanishing cyclone, the runic symbol on her tank top radiated a significant amount of ether. Sooyoung's barrier briefly blinked into existence. Yeojin was mesmerized as she witnessed the cracks in the shield produced by the punch recede into nothingness. With little to no effort whatsoever, Haseul had entirely recharged Sooyoung's fractured shield from noticeably damaged to pristine and untouched.

"You're good to go," Haseul recollected herself, stepping away from Sooyoung. Taking a breath, she looked towards the passenger. Sooyoung stepped forwards a few feet ahead of Haseul and Kahei, her massive sword still relaxed over her shoulder. The passenger's eerie convulsions came to a slow halt as Sooyoung took the foreground of its focus. Turning its head back to her, it stood up straight, standing perfectly still.

"Well, that short intermission didn't make me lose enmity entirely," Sooyoung confirmed with a relieved sigh. "I'm not sure how much of a hold I've still got on it, though. Want me to draw more aggro, Haseul?"

"Please don't," Haseul politely requested. "We've defeated a lot of fiends in the past several hours. Not only are you very likely reaching your corruption threshold, but we might also be getting close to mana deprivation at this point."

"Then we should make this especially quick," Kahei suggested, pushing her glasses up.  She repositioned herself to another pillar near the opposite sidewalk, gaining altitude. "It's already gathering mana again."

Sooyoung's eyes narrowed as the fiend stared her down with its own nonexistent eyes. Bringing her greatsword down from her shoulder, she held it in front of her with both hands. She turned her body slightly as she leveled her weapon with its chest. "Alright, then. Guess it's time to pretend like this is an actual raid encounter. Haseul, ready up."

Sooyoung's call to action was answered with a hurricane.

Originating from a tranquil, perfectly still Haseul, overwhelming winds lashed out from around her. They rushed outwards with a speed and intensity that Yeojin could hardly believe was real. Haseul's off-shoulder white dress shirt and her hair seemed to float for a moment.

The tempest of a lifetime battered the street, launching several cars through the windows of nearby buildings and even starting to uproot a tree close by. In no time at all, the storm found its way upwards. The lightweight girl was nearly pushed over the edge of the rooftop as she closed her eyes in fear. Before she could summon winds of her own to prevent her from falling—not that she was sure they'd do anything against Haseul's vastly superior currents to begin with—Yeojin suddenly felt nothing pushing against her.

Opening her eyes, she found herself floating, being carefully suspended by a calm breeze. As the soft winds let her down, she was quickly surrounded by mixed clouds of ice and earth ether. In unison, they took shape, materializing into a fusion of frozen walls and earthen stone around her. There was an opening in the rocks next to her, making her realize she wasn't even in a position to worry about suffocating. The storm raged on outside as Yeojin's heart raced.

As the winds settled, the ground-based half of her enclosure crumbled into dirt. With an exit presented to her, Yeojin stepped out and quickly ran back to the edge of the building, peering down.

The three of them had worked together to protect her from her inability to withstand Haseul's winds, all without looking at her or moving an inch.

Yeojin gulped. The tension was palpable even from her perch on the roof.

"I'm sorry about that…Healing Yeojin resulted in me using more mana than I expected," Haseul explained courteously. "I just needed a deep breath."

"That…was a single breath?" Yeojin murmured to herself, her widened eyes trembling in bewildered awe.

Dense verdant green ether coming to life around Haseul's wrists caught Yeojin's excited attention. Haseul remained stoic and focused as the dust formed a strange shape…a thin line extending from the center of one of her hands, and then a curved line parallel to it. As it coalesced, Yeojin found the mystery of her weapon solved.

"Alright, Sooyoung," Haseul said with a nod. In her right hand, a metallic recurve bow of sizable length rested. Along the front of it, a slew of runes were etched into its steel.

In Haseul's free hand, a stream of green ether formed. It materialized in the form of an arrow, the steel of the arrowhead also bearing various runes. Haseul nocked the arrow onto the bow, resulting in a small burst of wind expanding outwards from the tip of the arrowhead. As the wind rolled over the bow, the runes activated, shining with light. Haseul's left eye followed, her brown iris warping into a deep forest green. "Whenever you're ready."

"Good to have you back," Sooyoung spoke with a genuine heart. A smile that Haseul couldn't see showed itself on her face for just a moment.

Ether began to coalesce around their foe. With a sufficient amount gathered, it moved to its arm. Like before, the plastic appendage underwent a freakish transformation at a quick speed, becoming the sharpened blade once more.

A bed of winds formed behind Haseul. It carried her up to one of Kahei's pillars, not far from Yeojin.  Raising her bow, she closed her right eye as she pulled back on the string. Her sights focused on the passenger's cracked torso, Haseul's hair flailed as a gust of currents came to life around her nocked arrow. "Kahei's already done sufficient damage to the body. If you can damage the chest a little more and freeze it, I can destroy it in a single shot."

"Gladly," Sooyoung said with a smirk. "Alright, girls. Let's show a fledgling Neophyte sorceress what a Master line is capable of."

Chills rolled down Yeojin's spine as her body temperature dropped slightly.

A cold wave rushed down the street as Sooyoung's body pulsed. A cloud of icy ether enveloped her, hiding her from view. Yeojin blinked, and when she opened her eyes, Sooyoung was in the middle of rushed slide across the ice towards the passenger. The edge of her greatsword had become frozen solid in a thick of sheet of ice.

As she neared the doll, she raised her body from her low slide and lifted her sword into the air. She clutched it with both hands as another mist of cyan took form, shrouding the sword.

The passenger started to raise its own sword in response, seeking to clash blades. Reacting to its move in an impressive fashion, Kahei's left eye and the crystal in her staff shined together as a runic circle spawned above the enemy's blade.

As if she had been waiting for it, Haseul aim snapped to the circle as she let her arrow loose. It flew forth with a tremendous burst of speed, the small vortex of air around it adding to its velocity. Cleanly, it pierced Kahei's runic circle straight through the middle. Broken into pieces, the ether of the circle spread down and coalesced into a pointed shape. It materialized into a tall stalactite and dropped down to earth fast, piercing the passenger's sword and anchoring it to where it was standing.

Its arm immobilized, the doll's head tilted as Sooyoung slid to a stop in front it while fiercely bringing her sword down in a diagonal arc. The snowy ether aggregated around her blade rushed forward ahead of her swing, settling onto the passenger's torso and quickly compounding into layers of ice. The swing itself, however, struck nothing but air. On the contrary, Sooyoung experienced a force pushing against her back.

With noticeable agility, the passenger had swung around its anchor point on the rocky spire by kicking off the ground with its legs. The energy it spent doing so was noticeable, as was the effect it had on its centrifugal force. Coming back around, it raised a foot and delivered a swift, powerful kick to Sooyoung from behind. Her barrier triggered, cracking slightly in the center of her back.

Sliding forwards from the knockback, Sooyoung took an especially sharp, sudden breath as a large cyan mist took shape in front of her. The ether quickly coalesced, bursting into a formation of ice in the shape of a ramp in front of her. Using the forward momentum from the attack she was struck by, she seamlessly transitioned into a boosted slide up the ramp. Rising up into the air, she turned herself over and faced her foe below.

Standing up straight, the passenger looked down to its stone-impaled sword. With a disturbing calmness, it exerted a powerful force forwards with its stuck appendage. The stone didn't budge as it ripped its own weapon clean off. With nothing but its legs left to its name, it looked up towards Sooyoung in the sky. It waited patiently, expecting another sudden dropping attack.

The passenger found itself falling for a feint, however, as a veritable rush of gale force winds carried Sooyoung's body through the air. Turning around, the passenger followed her aerial path and watched Sooyoung land safely on the vantage point closest to Haseul. The winds that carried her down quickly reformed around their owner's newly nocked arrow. With her shot lined up, an explosion of wind came from Haseul as she released her bow's string.

The passenger staggered hard as the arrow pierced into its chest. Even with the support of immense winds adding to its speed, the hardened shell of its torso prevented a clean shot all the way through. The three mystics seemed unbothered, however, as its torso began to quickly crack from the ice. Ether coalesced between the middle and ring fingers of Haseul's free hand. Another arrow materializing, she nocked it as a small cyclone formed around her. The winds moved behind her before rushing forwards, launching her off of Kahei's tower and onto the ground.

Landing on the frost-covered road, Haseul faced her prey and took a deep breath as the cracks spreading on the fiend's body increased in pace and size. The passenger took a step back, hunching over slightly. Its frame started to shake. Slowly, its locked-on focus towards Sooyoung shifted to Haseul, it's head turning towards the archer.

"I've lost enmity," Sooyoung announced. Yeojin took notice of the swordswoman's body giving off a faint, dark gray glow for a moment. Despite no longer being their enemy's intended target, Sooyoung was relaxed. She brought her greatsword down, gently stabbing it into the top of the stone pillar. She placed both of her hands atop the bottom of its handle as she glanced over to Haseul. "Better not miss."

The tip of Haseul's arrow began to swell. Winds of a monstrous force quickly aggregated on it as the mess of cracked veins reached the edges of the fiend's torso.

"I won't."

Haseul released the arrow in the same instant that the passenger's chest broke into pieces. Fragments of ice flew in every direction possible, revealing its crystal core. Measurably larger than the core in her pocket or the one that belonged to its shielded ally, Yeojin stared in amazement as the passenger didn't immediately fall to pieces like its brethren.

Stemming from its dark gray core, a similarly colored web of ether was spread outwards. It was much more dense than the ether web Yeojin had seen inside of the cannon equipped passenger she defeated prior, as well as all others before it. Segments of the web spread up to its head and down to its legs, the passenger almost vibrating with energy as it made a discernible effort to keep its body together. With that kind of tenacious resolve, it could have kept fighting, even if only for a little bit longer.

But it didn't matter.

Haseul's arrow rocketed down the street. A visible tunnel of spiraling wind trailed behind it as it soared. It crashed into the fiend's core, the arrowhead piercing it and becoming imbued in the crystal as it was lodged inside. The passenger fell to its knees as its heart was struck. Leaning backwards, its head looked up to the sky almost solemnly.

The energy of the wind collected on the arrowhead promptly detonating, the fiend perished in an explosion of hurricane force winds.

The crystal core shattered from the inside, splitting into thousands of shards as the web of ether holding the passenger together instantly dissipated. Defeated, it fell backwards as its legs separated from one another. Its head fell into the floor and rolled away, as lifeless and still as it was when it was alive.

For a brief moment that felt like years to Yeojin, she stood in wonder as the three experienced monster hunters stood with an almost threatening level of tranquility. Each of their odd left eyes were alight with life—Sooyoung's frozen cyan, Kahei's rocky hazel, and Haseul's forest green. Even with the threat finished off, their intense focus didn't break, nor did their stabilized breathing.

The young girl was speechless, unable to process the fact that she was in the presence of not just one, but three mystics of such a high caliber. Before this, such a degree of mastery was unfathomable to her. Truly, her own capabilities felt like a drop of water compared to the ocean of their insurmountable might.

In her stupor of their combined prowess, Yeojin had almost forgotten that she was a single breath away from having her life taken from her before Sooyoung stepped in. The moment played over and over again in her head like a broken record as she looked on at them. She already knew it, but after the battle, the realization hit harder than ever before. Had it not been for them, she would've…

"Good riddance."

Sooyoung broke the silence with a shake of her head. Lifting her hands off of her greatsword, it slowly began to disintegrate into icy ether as a runic circle spawned and moved down the length of it. She sighed, running a hand through her hair as she jumped straight down, not bothering to use other towers as stepping stones. "Just about had enough of these assholes for one day."

As Sooyoung touched ground, the ice covering the street and the two frozen barriers at the ends of the road all began to melt. Their vanishing act coincided with Sooyoung's greatsword; as it finally blinked out of existence, so too did her winter wonderland.

"You two did great," Kahei said softly, a relaxed smile showing itself on her face. She carefully jumped down from tower to tower, approaching Haseul with Sooyoung. A mahogany circle came to life at the bottom of her staff. As it traveled upwards, it dematerialized in unison with the gradual crumbling of all of Kahei's earthen creations. As her vantage points turned to dust and gravel, the ether emitting from her encased crystal diminished before disappearing with the rest of the staff. "I don't sense anymore nearby. We should be safe."

Silently, Haseul lowered her arms. A green circle manifested around the hand which held her bow and split into two. One traveled up and the other downwards, the weapon vanishing in the same manner as Sooyoung's and Kahei's. As it was erased from existence, the winds in the area came to a calm stop. With a sigh, her odd eye was washed over with her normal deep brown.

"Are you alright, Yeojin? Has your wound healed?"

Haseul spoke up as she turned towards the sidewalk. Hearing the young girl bring herself down with a serene current, she gave the girl a warm smile as they approached one another. Sooyoung and Kahei followed.

"Yeah, I'm, uh, it's…yeah," Yeojin stammered, almost at a loss for words as her three heroes looked down at her. Fitting herself into her hoodie again, she removed her earbud and shoved her headphones back into her pocket. Kahei shared in smiling at her with Haseul while Sooyoung gave her a small grin.

The wind at Yeojin's back ceased, and with it, the green of her left eye flushed with brown again. Her daggers, still tossed to the floor from the passenger's strike against her, began to evaporate. "You guys really saved my ass there. I don't know how to repay you."

"You can start by helping us find some food," Sooyoung said, her request halfway between asking for help and demanding it. "We haven't eaten in a few hours now. I'm not in the mood for dealing with both hunger and near mana deprivation…"

"Yes, that would be ideal," Kahei agreed. "Would you have any idea where we could find food, Yeojin?"

"This part of the city's been empty for a while now. I think most of the stores are cleared," Yeojin admitted, scratching the back of her head with a grimace. "We might find some luck at a gas station not far from here, though. It's past the outskirts of town, a bit into the freeway. Most of us never really bothered going out that far. If we head back south and then follow the astral highway, it should only be about a forty minute walk."

"Astral highway?" Sooyoung parroted with a raised brow. "Do you mean the leyline…?"

"Leyline?" Yeojin parroted back, blinking with confusion. "What the hell's a leyline?"

"By astral highway, are you referring to the pathway of mana that travels in the sky?" Kahei inquired, pushing her glasses up.

"I'm getting confused again," Yeojin declared with a shake of her head. "You guys keep saying that word, mana…not to mention the way Haseul asked me if passengers were what I called the mannequins. I don't really get what's going on. You're mystics, aren't you?"

"No," Sooyoung answered. "We're magi."

"Yeojin, what's your word for this?"

Yeojin tilted her head as Haseul answered the question with a question of her own. A small cloud of  verdant ether began to collect, the dust-like particles becoming more and more visible as they unhurriedly coalesced.

"Well, obviously, that's ether…" Yeojin responded slowly, the question coming off to her as so rudimentary that she had to wonder if she was being tested. "Wind ether, to be specific."

"Do you spell that with an 'A' at the beginning…?" Sooyoung asked as she crossed her arms.

Yeojin shook her head again, never once having had seen or heard the substance being referred to as 'aether.' "No, it's…just ether."

"I wonder how divergent this universe is from ours or Archmagus Jeong's," Kahei mused quietly to herself, curiously tapping her finger on her chin.

"Yeojin, our word for this is mana," Haseul spoke, bringing the topic back to its original point, "and we call the incredibly condensed roads of it that run across the sky leylines. So, presumably, what you call a mystic, we call a magus. Male magi are sorcerers, and female magi are sorceresses."

"Okay…" Yeojin replied slowly as Haseul's ether dispersed. She shot glances at both Haseul and Kahei. "Haseul, when you told me you guys called the passengers fiends, I was imagining this to be a cultural difference of a more…local degree. Like you guys were from another country or something, but Kahei…you said this _universe?_ "

"Yes, well…"

Kahei's voice was cut off by the rumbling of Sooyoung's stomach. With an exhausted sigh, she turned around and started heading back down the road. "Surely this lesson can take place on the way, yeah? Let's get a move on."

 **「** **➤➤➤** **★** **➤➤➤** **」**

"Yeojin, have you heard of the multiverse theory?"

Kahei looked up at Yeojin as the group ventured beyond the ghost town. The smaller girl was walking atop the metal guardrail on the side of the abandoned expressway, carefully balancing herself with one foot over the other. Just a little bit ahead, Haseul walked at a relaxed pace. In front of the archer, the swordswoman took point. Sooyoung was at ease as she lead the party down the five lane highway. Vehicles of all sorts were scattered about the area, with an amount of them even being tossed over on the grassy plains to either side of the pavement.

"Yeah, sure. Parallel realities, alternate timelines, divergent worlds, parallel universes, world lines…jeez, there's a lot of names for that stuff, now that I think about it…" Yeojin mused aloud, taking precise, calculated steps on the tightrope of a guardrail beneath her. "Anyway, it's basically the concept that our universe isn't the only one out there, right?"

"That's right," Kahei affirmed with a small smile. "This universe is more like…a bubble in a huge sea of bubbles. All universes within the multiverse coexist simultaneously within the same flow of time."

"I've played a few video games that have had stories based around the concept," Yeojin said. "The last one I remember had this crazy twist where alternate versions of the main characters showed up. They came from a reality that was close to their own, but the things that happened to them ended up making them evil and stuff. It was a pretty wild thought, facing another version of yourself that's been through more than you have…didn't get to finish the game, though. Kinda want to."

Kahei laughed softly. "You get the idea, then. That being said…Yeojin…"

The spectacled sorceresses' voice slowly faded, experiencing difficulty in finding the right words. Haseul heard the break in the conversation and turned around, coming to a stop with Kahei. Sooyoung's pause followed, turning halfway as she stopped her stride to look back to them.

A heavy sound of shoes stepping down broke the silence. Yeojin had hopped from the guardrail to the top of a nearby convertible's trunk. The roof already down and the front door open, she hopped down again and took a seat behind the wheel. She looked between the three of them curiously. Kahei's eyes were downcast, still struggling to express her thoughts. Sooyoung sighed, looking off to the side. Haseul was the one who exchanged glances with Yeojin as she spoke up.

"We're from somewhere much further away than another country, Yeojin. We crossed into this world from another reality."

Silence set the stage. Kahei looked up with a solemn expression, wistful eyes peering at Yeojin from behind her lenses.

"Seriously…?"

Yeojin's response was curt as she took a breath, shaking her head. Her eyes wandered up, gazing at the river of ether flowing high in the sky above them.

The astral highway sprawled across the length of the expressway, going well beyond the horizon. The ether within it traversed its course at a snail's pace, flowing towards the direction they had come from. She was fixated on the sight of it for brief moment, her eyes becoming lost in the swaying passage of the light gray dust. She turned her head, following the sight of it down the road.

The further out it reached, the darker the ether became. On the horizon, it started a transition into a much deeper shade of gray. The color strangely reminded her of every aspect of the passengers—the normal coloring of their plastic bodies, the ether they used when they fought, and their crystal cores and the webs of ether tied to them. The other three remained quiet as Yeojin looked off into the distance.

With a breath, Yeojin turned her head back to them. Her usual carefree expression and childlike demeanor were absent. "I guess this isn't some sort of dumb prank or something, given by how serious you guys look."

Neither of the three immediately responded, to which Yeojin nodded silently to herself before continuing. "So why'd you come here, then?"

"This timeline's screwed up pretty bad," Sooyoung answered, her gaze still focused to the road ahead. "Needed to assess the damage."

"We're also…looking for magi. For mystics," Haseul explained, drawing Yeojin's eyes from Sooyoung to her. "Because…"

Like Kahei, Haseul's words failed her. She looked to the ground, and then to the sky, and then to Yeojin. The younger girl was taken aback, not sure how to process the conflict present on her face. Haseul's hand balled up in a fist as she seemed to find her thoughts, but it wasn't her words that Yeojin heard next.

"This entire universe is going to die, Yeojin."

Sooyoung's calm declaration had enough power behind it to cut through steel.

Yeojin looked over to her as Haseul and Kahei both looked away. Their expressions showcased simultaneous relief that they didn't have to be the one to break the news and immense regret that they couldn't. A natural breeze swept the air, causing the girls' hair to sway in the wind.

Yeojin felt a serious intensity coming from Sooyoung. She noticed that the swordswoman's left eye was still off-colored from her right, standing out with its distinct shade of light blue. Yeojin looked over to Kahei, confirming that her odd eye was also still active as the older woman looked to her. Her expression was as serious as Sooyoung's, eyes of dark brown and light amber gazing upon her.

"The leyline above us isn't a singular pathway specific to your world," Sooyoung started. Yeojin looked up to the otherworldly sight once more. The incredibly thick stream of ether that she had stared at in wonder for years flowed peacefully. "It's just one of an unimaginable number. For every universe, there exists an accompanying leyline. They run through throughout the bubbles of their individual universes, but at the end of that bubble, they break free. They continue to spread out into the multiverse, eventually mixing with leylines from other realities. The mana you're looking at isn't confined to your world. It's mana spread across from every conceivable plane of existence…and it's going to bring an end to this universe."

"See how its getting darker on the horizon?" Sooyoung asked, pointing to the dark gray end of the leyline. "That's corruption. Your world is being fed tainted mana. Do you know what's over in that direction?"

"Um..." Yeojin pondered, swaying her legs in the car seat as she tilted her head. "Once the forest starts up after the gas station, there's a path into it that leads to some cave. It's a bit before the next major city. I remember hearing some people talk about an ether reservoir in there. It's like a big sinkhole or something…I haven't seen it. I'm kind of scared of falling in…"

"No doubt in my mind, then. It's a manapool," Sooyoung decided, turning back towards the road as she started to walk ahead. "Let's hit the gas station and then check it out. We're burning daylight."

Kahei gave Haseul and Yeojin a nod before walking ahead. Haseul glanced down to Yeojin as she jumped out of the car seat. The two strolled side by side, Yeojin's hands still in her pockets. Her brows were furrowed, deep in thought about something.

"I'm sorry this had to be sprung on you like this, Yeojin," Haseul apologized sincerely. "I know it's hard to believe, but—"

"It isn't."

Haseul was surprised to hear Yeojin's response. Yeojin's eyes focused on the astral highway above her. "It's not that hard to believe at all. I think you're telling the truth."

"Really?" Haseul asked with slight shock, having had expected resistance. "Why is that…?"

Yeojin turned around mid-stride, walking backwards as she faced Haseul. She shrugged with a sigh, a strange look of peace set about her face.

"This is the second time this exact situation has happened to me."

Haseul's heart practically came to a stop as Yeojin nodded to herself.

"When I was eleven, I was almost killed by passengers. An old mystic shows up out of nowhere, saves me, says the same stuff you guys just said, and then he just…leaves," she explained. "Nine years later, I'm about to die again—which isn't a regular occurrence or anything, I promise—and three of you show up this time, save me, and then tell me the same story?"

"Come to think of it, he used a lot of the words you guys use, too," Yeojin realized as she dug into the depths of her memories, extending a hand and counting her fingers. "Mana, magus, leylines…the same exact weird terms for stuff that didn't match up with what I was taught. It's been so long that I forgot. Can't even remember his name, actually…or maybe he never even told me it in the first place? Find it hard to believe I'd forget that much about a time I nearly died..."

"Anyway! It's kinda difficult to scratch this off as a coincidence," Yeojin said as she turned around, walking ahead. The lively girl made a jump onto the top of a vehicle, looking ahead as she continued. "So if it isn't a coincidence, you're either lying or you're telling the truth. I'm sure most people would think its the former, but you guys…you just…"

Haseul felt a caring warmth from the innocence Yeojin displayed as she burst into a small fit of giggles. She turned her head back to Haseul, revealing a radiant smile. "You're the most amazing mystics I've ever seen! You're way beyond me...you practically summoned a hurricane, Haseul! Not to mention Sooyoung's huge ice walls, and Kahei's towers, like…dude, that kind of stuff just doesn't happen here! It's like comparing a newbie player running to an endgame raid team, you know? I'm over here trying to kill level one trash mobs for a fetch quest and you guys run by with some godlike equipment on your way to slay an elder god or something…but then you stopped and you helped me. Could've just strolled by and ignored the newbie who accidentally drew aggro on a high level mob, but you didn't."

Yeojin took a small breath after her excited outburst, her smile relaxing. "I'm just putting two and two together, Haseul. You guys are good people, and good people don't lie. Especially not to the extent of telling someone that their world's coming to an end, y'know? So you must be telling the truth."

"What the hell that means for my sorry ass is another story!" she announced abruptly as she jumped to the roof of another vehicle. "Guess we'll find out on next week's episode of _'Wow, Yeojin's Life Really Kinda Sucks Sometimes!'_ Hopefully our main character gets to finish that video game before she fades away from existence! She was, like, level 74 and everything!"

With a bout of self-deprecating humor, Yeojin began jumping from car to van and van to truck as she caught up with Kahei and Sooyoung. For a moment, Haseul remained still. She found herself smiling as the youthful mystic dropped from the top of a pick-up truck with a heroic pose before jogging towards Kahei to chat with her.

"Yeojin..."

 **「** **➤➤➤** **★** **➤➤➤** **」**

"Catch."

Three room temperature bottles of water were tossed through the air in a successive chain. The first two were caught, and the third was suspended in place by a cylindrical stream of wind.

Through a large hole in the wall of a small deserted building, Sooyoung emerged after the water bottles. She stepped out, rummaging through a small plastic bag filled with snacks. Yeojin's currents dispersed, dropping the bottle in her hands safely. Seated atop what remained of a badly damaged vehicle, she playfully kicked her legs over the edge of the car as she rehydrated herself.

Haseul and Kahei took measured sips of their drinks while Sooyoung approached them. The swordswoman pulled out a couple of bags of chips and some packaged cookies. "Mostly junk food in there, just like the other stores from this morning. Not much of a meal, but it's better than nothing. Can't wait to get back and have some real food…"

"I'm sure Chaewon's cooking up a storm for you right now," Kahei teased with a grin as Sooyoung handed her a snack.

"And I'm sure it'll be worth the price of the whole building nearly burning down again in the process," Sooyoung remarked after a small laugh, smiling as she handed Haseul her share. "Least that mess made us realize the smoke detector was defective. Yeojin!"

Yeojin looked over to Sooyoung, swallowing the water in her mouth. "Did they have them?"

"No luck, unless you wanna go check yourself," Sooyoung responded, sending a package of vanilla-frosted cookies towards her with an underarm throw. "There's still some food in there."

"Mmmphkay!" Yeojin mumbled with half of a cookie in her mouth, already having had opened her snack. She walked in through the same opening in the wall that Sooyoung walked out off, vanishing into the depths of the convenience store.

With her gone, Sooyoung leaned against one of the gas station's pumps, looking towards Haseul and Kahei as she started to munch. "So, she believes us, then?"

"Yes, thankfully," Haseul said, looking up towards the astral highway above. The ether in the stream was coming closer to a darker shade of gray. "She…she said this is the second time she's heard of this."

"The second time…?" Kahei said, pausing a sip of her drink. "What exactly do you mean?"

"She said an old sorcerer saved her when she was eleven. Nine years ago, that is," Haseul clarified, her contemplative gaze still lost to the flow of aerial ether above. "She was about to be killed by fiends, but then he showed up. After saving her life, he told her everything we just did. About the multiverse and the state of her universe, the nature of the leylines across all realities…and then he left."

"Was it him?"

Sooyoung voice carried an unusual combination of both fear and hatred. Her eyes equally brimmed over with a fusion of intense dread and malignant fury as Haseul looked back down to her.

"She can't remember," Haseul answered with a shake of her head. Sooyoung's tension eased, but only slightly. "If it was, I imagine he was checking the fruits of his labor and seeing how corrupted things were."

"But stopping to save a girl?" Kahei pondered aloud, rocking her head side to side after pushing up her glasses. "That's not like him…I don't believe he's the type of person to save anyone, let alone an eleven year old girl."

"You're right, but…" Haseul started, looking ahead towards the building. "Yeojin said he used the same exact terminology we did. Mana, magi, leyline…so he must have been from Archmagus Jeong's timeline."

"And Archmagus Jeong said he had never visited this particular world before," Sooyoung confirmed. "This is the first time he's caught trace of its existence from the leyline. So if it wasn't him…"

"Please don't forget that a single timeline, while only one of a near infinite amount in the multiverse, is still, well…quite literally speaking, an entire universe," Kahei reasoned, her soft voice steady and tranquil. Haseul and Sooyoung looked to her, her level-headed words relaxing them. "I don't believe I need to explain how many people it could have potentially been even when you narrow it down to a single reality. I know our sense of scale on the grand scheme of things expanded dramatically when we started exploring parallel realities, but the amount of life found in a single reality is still encompassing beyond measure."

"Even if it sounds like it was him, it's more likely that it wasn't," Kahei continued. "Not to mention, that's not even including the possibility of other timelines sharing terminology. Given the sheer breadth of the multiverse, to believe that Archmagus Jeong's timeline is the only one which would refer to things as it does is a complete fallacy."

"Yeah, Yeojin really tripped me up when she said ether," Sooyoung said, slight surprise still etched into her face as she remembered Yeojin's words. "If our timeline was still around, I would have thought we actually ended up back home for a second…"

"Kahei's right, then," Haseul agreed with a nod, looking to the two of them. "There's no saying one way or the other if it was or wasn't him, so it's best not to worry about it."

"Fine by me," Sooyoung conceded, easing up with a sigh. "Not like a single good deed would make him a saint or anything, anyway. The leyline corruption's his fault. Entire universes being overrun by fiends and dying off is his fault. Everything is that piece of shit's fault..."

"It's alright, Sooyoung," Kahei comforted her friend, gently rubbing her back with slow movements. "With any luck, Yeojin could end up being what we need for our project to really get off the ground."

"Assuming she not only wants to come back with us, but also wants to join our cause," Sooyoung countered, bitter realism acting in opposition to Kahei's optimism.

"I'm sure she'll be the one…"

Haseul spoke with uncontested certainty, tipping the scales back on the side of optimism. She smiled as the young girl emerged from the debris of the half-destroyed convenience store.

"…LOONA's final piece."

With a prideful cheer, Yeojin valiantly raised her hand. Within it, she held a small jelly pastry. "I found one! It was at the end of the second aisle, you lazy good-for-nothing ice mystic!" she shouted with a big grin, teasing Sooyoung playfully. The girls shared a laugh as she approached, eagerly biting into her snack after breaking open the packaging.

"Good work, kid," Sooyoung said with the warmest smile Yeojin had seen from her yet. "You're more perceptive than you look."

"What, you thought I wouldn't find it?" Yeojin said with a smirk. "Get real! I've had to scavenge for stuff tons before."

As she swallowed another bite of her food, Yeojin looked up curiously to Kahei and Sooyoung. They stared back. Yeojin said nothing, simply peering at them inquisitively. Kahei giggled as Sooyoung brought up her hand, tapping Yeojin's forehead. "Hello? Anybody in there?"

"Why are your eyes still different colors?"

Yeojin's straightforward question to Sooyoung's tease caught the girls off guard. Their expressions fell slightly as Yeojin looked up at Haseul. "Haseul's eye went back to normal, just like mine…why didn't yours change back?"

"It's just something that happens when you have to live your life like we have," Sooyoung answered, sighing lightly. She had an almost pained smile set about her face as she looked to Yeojin, her bright cyan eye standing out.  "Use your mana, it changes colors. Use it enough, and eventually…it just gets tired of switching and settles in, I guess."

"Doesn't that make life hard?"

"There's no damage to the magus' body or vision," Kahei began to explain. "It's purely a cosmetic after effect. Sort of like a…permanent contact lens."

"No, I mean, like…in a societal sense," Yeojin corrected herself. "People would know you're mystics, and that's no good, right? That's how you get exiled like I did."

Sooyoung and Kahei blinked in surprise. "Yes, it's an undesirable side effect," Haseul confessed with a nod as she turned towards the two mystics. "Yeojin told me that this universe is much like the others. Magi are ostracized."

Sooyoung tensed up.

"To what extent?" Kahei asked Yeojin, her curiosity for knowledge almost superseding her concern for the young girl's past.

"You get kicked out of most cities here if you're seen performing any act of mysticism or messing with ether," the young girl explained after another bite of her pastry. "For as long as I've been alive and way longer than even that, pretty much everyone's believed that the passengers were a direct result of mystics messing with ether. Mystics hiding out in town need to be careful not to let anyone see them doing the kinda stuff we do. Even then, if their odd eyes stayed as they were, it was an easy way to get thrown out."

"From there, mystics just have to live like I've been: wandering," Yeojin said with a sigh that seemed more annoyed than depressed. "Trying to find food is a hell of a trial some days. A lot of cities have long been completed wiped of all life thanks to passengers. There's still animals to hunt, I guess, but even the wildlife can get pretty sparse. On top of that, there's the threat of having a group of passengers see you. A lot of fighting..."

"They survive, though? There's still people around, then?" Sooyoung asked. "People like us?"

"Well, normal people have gathered around and built settlements and communities out of the ruins of the places that the passengers destroyed, so they're hanging out, yeah," Yeojin said, finishing off her snack. "They've got local militias and stuff that take care of the basic threats. Not sure how well they'd handle anything on the level of that red guy, though. They have farms and their own means of producing food, so they don't have to go out. They just relax, refuse to take care of mystics, and wait for the end of the world…which, according to you guys is right around the corner, so I guess they won't be waiting much longer."

"No, Yeojin," Sooyoung reiterated, a heavy weight present in her tone. "People like _us._ "

"Oh, mystics…" Yeojin said slowly, her eyes going downcast. "If it's mystics you're looking for, you're out of luck as far as this continent is concerned. I've been down the coast and back ever since getting exiled, as well as pretty far inland. Like I said before, you guys are the first ones I've seen in a while. Feels like we're on the brink of extinction, honestly…"

"It's that bad, huh?" Sooyoung lamented, biting her lip for a moment. "This isn't good…"

Kahei spoke up, offering a counterpoint. "At least there's still some form of human life here. It could be worse."

"Yeah," Sooyoung regrettably agreed with a sigh. "Could've been Hyejoo's timeline."

"So you were born around here, Yeojin?"

"Yeah, close by. I was born in the city down past the cave with the ether reservoir," Yeojin answered Haseul, pointing down the road. "That's where I lived for a while until I moved into a house on the fields out of town. I only just got back into the general area."

Silence fell as time passed, a sorrowful respite settling in while they finished eating. Overhead, the sky's hue gradually transformed into a warm hue of orange as the sun started to set.

"Good to go?"

Sooyoung's voice from the edge of the gas station called out to her allies. The three of them walked over after disposing of their trash in a nearby garbage can. Coming together at the center of the expressway, Yeojin stepped forward and peered ahead. Trees began to litter the grassy fields on both sides of the road, and not far beyond on the horizon, they quickly multiplied into a dense forest. "Okay, the ether reservoir shouldn't be that far ahead. Twenty minutes at most."

Yeojin started to walk ahead, quickly outpacing them as she resumed her vehicle leaping shenanigans. Sooyoung started next, and Kahei and Haseul followed by closely.

It was quiet for a short while until Sooyoung spoke. "We're leaving once we check out this manapool."

"You don't want to give it a few more days?" Kahei asked. "We only just got here this morning…"

"You heard Yeojin," Sooyoung said. "They're practically wiped out on this continent. Looking for other magi in this timeline is pointless. We're lucky enough we found her. If our luck continues, she'll want to come back with us and we won't show up at the lab empty-handed."

"You say that as if Archmagus Jeong would ever be upset by that," Haseul spoke up, bothered by the sentiment. "He's never been upset with us for coming back without anyone before."

Unseen to Haseul behind her, Sooyoung frowned.

"I know he wouldn't. We're just too close, Haseul," Sooyoung clarified. "Once we properly form a third team, these excursions can be done so much more efficiently. Aside from the fact that there's nothing here for us, every second we spend not operating at full potential is a second wasted. We could look around for another few days and come up with nothing, or we can be smart and judge this as a horrible investment of time of effort. There's plenty of other timelines out there filled with magi who we can save from damnation…magi who can help us."

"Sooyoung, please don't talk like non-magi don't matter," Kahei responded, sensing growing unrest from the swordswoman. "They're—"

"No, Kahei, they're not worth saving. They're monsters that would be glad to see us die."

Sooyoung's stride had come to a stop as she spoke up, harshly cutting Kahei off. She was turned halfway, looking straight ahead of her. Kahei and Haseul stopped, met with the profile of Sooyoung's face. Seeing only her odd eye, they remained silent as icy ether coalesced in front of her.

"This world's like all the others. Magi, arcanists, diviners, conjurers, necromancers, mystics…it doesn't matter what we're called. It doesn't matter what good we've done. It doesn't matter how many times we run into town and save bystanders from fiends. For every magus we've helped, we've helped a hundred non-magi. And yet, out of all of those people, who're the only ones that ever look us in the eye with respect? Who're the ones that don't immediately run in terror, as if we're going to strike them down next?"

The cyan cloud in front of Sooyoung grew in density. Her greatsword materialized, already stabbed into the ground as her odd eye shined briefly. Quietly, she stood there motionless, merely gazing upon her weapon in deep thought.

"Yeojin was exiled. Jungeun and Jiwoo were shunned. Chaewon's parents disowned her. And Hyejoo…don't even get me started on what non-magi put that poor girl through. It's despicable. Reprehensible. To think that we share a name with those who broke that innocent girl's world…if humans are the ones who hurt Hyejoo, you better damn well believe that I'm not human," Sooyoung proclaimed. A disgusted scowl showed itself on her face as she clenched her teeth. "I'm only an arcanist. A magus. That's all I am."

"I said it three years ago," Sooyoung continued as her scowl rescinded, "but I'll say it again."

Sooyoung looked back up, turning her gaze towards them as she grabbed hold of her weapon. Lifting it out of the ground with a single hand, she pointed it towards Haseul and Kahei. The two didn't flinch. Opposite of a threat, Sooyoung's motion was a promise of protective action. There was a flagrant determination set about her eyes, a vehement resolve coming to life as she spoke.

"I'm going to do my absolute damnedest to make sure everything we're working for ends with my sword plunged into YG's heart. I want that asshole just as dead as the next guy. He took everything from us. He took everything from everyone. He's flooded realities with corrupted mana, giving birth to fiends across the multiverse. He's a heartless old man who gave up every last right he ever had to live, and I'm going to give him the death he rightfully deserves. But Haseul, Kahei... _please_ …"

Sooyoung's eyes narrowed.

"…do _not_ believe for a fucking _second_ that I'm doing it for non-magi who look at us in disgust. I'm not venturing into the depths of the multiverse and fighting fiend after fiend for the trash that calls itself human—the trash that would willingly inflict irreparable damage to the life of a girl like Hyejoo…"

Her ether began to coalesce around her greatsword. With a phenomenally massive amount of force, an immense wave of frost expelled itself outwards from Sooyoung's blade. It whipped the hair of the three women wildly, shirts and sleeves equally thrashing about chaotically.

Haseul stepped forward, her odd eye briefly washing over with green as a veritable gale of wind came down in front of them with currents bending around them. Sooyoung's cold front crashed into Haseul's wall of storms and was quickly redirected behind them. In the opposite direction, the surge of cold reached out far enough to hit Yeojin in a matter of seconds. She quickly found herself shivering in discomfort as she turned around in confusion.

"…because the only people I'm doing this for are for people like her. People like Yerim. Hyunjin. Heejin. Jinsol. Yeojin."

Standing still with her sword outstretched, the indomitable will burning within Sooyoung took the shape of gargantuan spires of ice. They flashed into existence across the expressway, her ether having had taken shape instantly with a sweeping expansion of ice. One by one, they rose above the trees ahead, reaching stories high. Haseul took careful note of how pristinely they were crafted—unlike her walls of ice during their previous battle, Sooyoung handled their formation with delicate precision and attention to detail.

The freezing temperatures in the area subsided. Silently, Haseul and Kahei remained focused on their longtime comrade. There was an intense respect in their locked-on glances towards her, even if every aspect of her values didn't line up. Arriving from the road ahead, Yeojin stepped off her wind skates and cautiously approached. She read the mood and remained quiet as she came to a stop near them. The tension in the air was so thick that it was quickly becoming uncomfortable.

Slowly, Sooyoung's greatsword began to dissipate as a runic circle formed and moved across it. She turned around as she spoke, walking ahead.

"I'm doing it for magi. For LOONA. For _us_. That's why I'm out here. Don't make me remind you again."

Yeojin was left speechless as she watched the swordswoman walk off. Kahei looked to Haseul. Haseul simply nodded, and in response, Kahei began to walk ahead behind Sooyoung. She seemed to be giving her space, walking a little further away than usual.

"Uh…" Yeojin began, unsure of what to make of the ordeal. "What, uh…what happened?"

Haseul took a breath as she looked up, fully taking in the sight of Sooyoung's frozen architecture. Her eyes moving across the collection of her frozen spire, she counted them. Ending with the one closest to Yeojin, she smiled.

"Just our lovely Master sorceress Ha Sooyoung doing what she does best," Haseul explained with a soft smile. "Come on, let's go."

As she walked off, Yeojin was left with little else to do but blink in confusion. "Alright then…"

Her wind skates forming again, Yeojin jumped onto the plates of air as she began to cruise forward, weaving around displaced vehicles. As she traveled, she turned around and began to skate backwards, counting Sooyoung's icy spires.

"Huh…twelve of them…"

 **「** **➤➤➤** **★** **➤➤➤** **」**

"It's worse than I thought."

Haseul, Kahei, and Sooyoung were stood near the edge of a titanic hole in the ground. Led by Yeojin through the insides of a cavern, the small entrance on the outside betrayed how deep the underground cave system would become upon further descent. Eventually, they came to a massive clearing within the cave. They had found the ether reservoir.

"I fear this is far beyond salvation," Haseul muttered under her breath as she walked along the outside of the sinkhole. It was a bottomless pit of dark gray ether, so densely coalesced that she couldn't even see through it. From the impressively dense and deep collection of ether, they rose: branches of the astral highway. The thick roads of corrupted ether rotated upwards in a slow, heavy swirl, flowing from the abyss and going out into the world.

Yeojin was further away, standing near the entrance of the clearing. Aside from her own fear of the ether reservoir, it became painstakingly more difficult for her to breathe the closer she got to it. While the other three weren't as horribly afflicted by it, she noticed their own breathing was a bit deeper and slower than usual. She was relieved to know that she hadn't suddenly come down with a strange shortness of breath. Being in the presence of such an unreal amount of ether in a contained spot was simply a great toll on the human body.

"Archmagus Jeong was correct, then," Kahei said, her curious gaze seemingly lost to the void of ether below her. The way it breathed with tainted life disturbed her in an inquisitively morbid fashion. "This universe doesn't have much time left…"

Between the two of them and Yeojin, Sooyoung had her arms crossed as she studied the astral highway above her. "Could be less than a decade. Maybe even half of that," she said, her eyes downcast as she looked down to Kahei. "Looks like there isn't much to see here. I'm gonna make the crystal so we can get out of here."

"Sooyoung—"

"I'm fine," the swordswoman cut off Haseul as she approached the hole of ether. "The enhanced fiend's corrupted mana is out of my system. So long as we leave soon enough that we don't have to get into another fight, I'll be fine."

Quietly, Haseul nodded as she came back around to the other side of the hole. Sooyoung stopped close to the edge, extending her hand with an open palm upwards.

"Careful."

Kahei's warning was acknowledged with a small nod from Sooyoung. With peerless focus, Sooyoung took in a remarkably slow, deep breath. In response, the well of ether began to stir further. Her body started to radiate an aura colored the same as the corrupted ether, similar to when she had established enmity on the red passenger. Finishing her breath, she held it for a few seconds. The aura around her began to gradually intensify as she did so, until she finally exhaled. Instantly, it diminished quietly as corrupted ether coalesced in the palm of her hand. Her odd eye shined as it took shape, resulting in a small dark gray crystal dropping into her grasp.

"That's…the crystal core inside of the passengers…"

Turning around, the three girls were met with the sight of a slightly quaking Yeojin. She had muscled through her fear of the sinkhole to get a better look at what they were doing. Looking at the core in Sooyoung's hand, a wave of unease settled on her face.

"Make the connection?" Sooyoung asked, prying her curious brain. "Fiends, passengers…they're a direct result of mana poisoning. Wherever corrupted mana flows on the leylines, fiends will follow. They swarm the timeline and slaughter everything around them without discrimination. Once a universe's leyline reaches complete corruption, it takes over the genocide itself. Fully tainted mana is dangerously lethal to all forms of life. Forests become shriveled wastelands. Cities become massive graveyards. From there, all life in that universe fades away, and eventually, its leyline withers away into nothing and it's over."

"Then…it really wasn't our fault…"

"It never was," Haseul comforted Yeojin. The younger girl's eyes were absorbed by the abyss of corrupted ether as Haseul put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure people had you believe that your kind have long been the cause of the fiends, but that was never true. Their appearance and the resulting destruction…we don't have anything to do with it."

Yeojin failed to respond. Her mind was ablaze with thoughts that the trio couldn't even begin to guess by the vague expression on her face. Pocketing the crystal, Sooyoung looked behind her towards the abyss for a moment before walking ahead. "Alright, Yeojin. We need to talk."

 **「** **➤➤➤** **★** **➤➤➤** **」**

"So, there's a crazy evil warlock dude who's doing this to the multiverse. You guys check the state of parallel realities and try to save any magi you can in the hopes of recruiting them into a team. You enlist enough magi, farm up experience by training real hard, and then hunt him down. Kill him, save the multiverse."

Yeojin gazed upon the corrupted ether highway above her as she spoke. Back outside, the group of four had relocated to the expressway. Night was fast approaching, with the edges of the sky shifting to black. Laying down on top of a small car, Yeojin's eyes were remarkably pensive.

"So…you want me to go back with you to help you out with that plan? Leave my timeline and jump over to yours?"

"Not ours," Sooyoung responded sharply from her seat on an abandoned motorcycle. A melancholic cyan eye peered towards the horizon. "It's Archmagus Jeong's timeline. Ours is long gone. Sorry to say, but yours will be soon, too."

"Sooyoung…"

"It's alright," Yeojin apologized on Sooyoung's behalf, sensing Kahei's disappointment with the swordswoman's lack of tact. "I know I look like it to the point where people still call me one, but I'm not a kid. I'm not blind to the gravity of the situation."

Sitting up, Yeojin sighed as she scratched the back of her head. Sooyoung fixated her eyes to her while Yeojin's eyes looked to where Sooyoung was looking—the expanse of the freeway ahead, towards the horizon and beyond. "The old man said it nine years ago. You're saying it now. The ether reservoir's screwed up, and passengers have claimed this universe…"

"Yep!" Yeojin exclaimed as she suddenly hopped down from the vehicle. She stayed facing the other end of the expressway, leaving the three mystics to stare at the back of her hoodie. "This place isn't gonna last much longer after all. Sucks, to say the least, but what's a girl supposed to do, y'know?"

Her words stopping there, silence draped itself over the group. It felt heavy as a natural wind slowly passed, caressing the girls' hair. Patiently, they waited for Yeojin to speak. Before long, she did.

"Earlier today, before you guys saved me…before I was about to die, I told myself that twenty years wasn't a bad run, that it must've been worth something. I forced myself to accept the fact that because I wasn't strong enough to keep going, it would be okay for me to die there. Even if I didn't fully believe in it, I lied to myself and told myself that that was an acceptable line of thought, because if I didn't…I would regret dying there."

_Get up, kid._

Sooyoung's words resonated from within her mind, instilling Yeojin with a type of resolve she hadn't quite felt before. "I don't want to feel like that again. I don't want to have to lie to myself in order to feel like I'm worth something. I don't want the foundation of what I decide to do to be based on a lie, because good people don't lie."

Haseul's core shook with warmth as a proud smile appeared on her face.

"I don't think I'm all that great of a mystic after seeing you guys in action," Yeojin admitted with slight shame, kicking the ground idly, "but that doesn't mean I shouldn't try. Besides, it's not every day you get invited to visit a parallel world so you can start training to take down a wizard threatening the entirety of creation. That's pretty wild…"

"So, yeah," Yeojin said after a short pause. "To me, twenty years isn't a run worth much anymore…"

_I know your heard me. Your legs are fine, so get up already!_

She turned around, looking at them. As the sun set across the horizon behind her, her smile was painfully contagious.

"…think I'd rather just stick around for as long as possible."

Rejoice in the form of wide, relieved smiles spread across the group as Yeojin approached them. Sooyoung stepped off the motorcycle and joined Haseul and Kahei in walking towards Yeojin. The spirited girl seemed to be set on a course. "You guys are something else, you know? Saving my life twice in one day…that's a little crazy."

"Thank you, Yeojin," Haseul's voice came to life as she released Yeojin from a tight hug.

"What am I being thanked for exactly…?" Yeojin asked, her confusion doubling over as she stepped back. "I didn't—"

"You didn't give up," Haseul explained. "You want to continue on, to persevere…it's difficult to fully articulate, but it means the world to us."

Yeojin nodded slowly as she looked between the three girls. Their shared smiles bounced back to her as she sheepishly grinned. "Well, uh…you're welcome, I guess?"

"Shall we depart, then?" Kahei asked.

Yeojin was the first to answer. "Um, could we…go somewhere first? It shouldn't take long, and given that I'm probably not gonna get another chance…"

The response was delayed as the older mystics could only imagine where Yeojin wanted to go, but Sooyoung nodded. "Yeah, of course. Where to?"

 **「** **➤➤➤** **★** **➤➤➤** **」**

By the time they arrived, the moon was on a steady ascent through the night sky. The run-down house was the only one for miles, far and away from the skyline of buildings towards the horizon. Kahei and Haseul shared a dusty bench seat on the patio while Sooyoung sat on the flight of stairs leading up to it. Her arms on her legs, she rested her chin on her held together hands as she watched Yeojin with quiet, intense eyes.

"Hey, Mom."

Across the field, Yeojin stood in front of a secluded burial site. The gravestone and its markings were illegible, having had been vandalized long ago. Her hands in the pockets of her hoodie, a peaceful calm came from Yeojin as she spoke.

"I'm, uh…heading out, I guess you could say."

Yeojin idly shuffled her feet as she took a breath. "I don't know if I'll be back. Things might not…play out in a way that lets me visit. There's a whole lot I wanna talk to you about, but I don't think I really have enough time. I've got to get going soon."

"Just wanted to make sure I got to say goodbye," Yeojin says with a small nod to herself, words becoming difficult to get out. "And I wanted to let you know that you were right, Mom. It wasn't our fault. Turns out mystics didn't do anything, just like you always said. You and I did nothing wrong. Even then, they still…"

Yeojin's voice trailed off. Sooyoung's watchful glance towards Yeojin turned into a cold glare aimed at the marks of vandalism on the gravestone.

"Alright, Mom. I've really got to going now. Talk to you again sometime. Love you."

With a deep breath, Yeojin turned away from the burial site and walked back towards the other three. As she approached, Sooyoung eased up, looking at Yeojin quietly. Yeojin returned the glance, strangely focused on Sooyoung's odd cyan eye for a moment. "Thanks for waiting."

Standing up from her seat on the patio stairs, Sooyoung exhaled. A small smile set itself about her face as she patted Yeojin's head. "It's alright. I'm glad you took the opportunity to tell her goodbye. Not everyone gets the chance to do that."

"Is there anything else you need to take care of, Yeojin?" Haseul's voice came from the patio above. She stood up with Kahei and the two approached the steps. Yeojin shook her head as she stared at the doorway to the house behind them.

"That's all she wrote," Yeojin replied wistfully with a shrug. "Doubt there's much left in there anyway…"

"Then let's make our departure," Kahei suggested, coming down the stairs with Haseul.

"Right, uh, about that," Yeojin said, looking around for a moment. "I think I missed the part of the plan that detailed, uh…crossing over into another world?"

"With this."

Yeojin looked over to Sooyoung. With an outstretched hand, she displayed a glowing gray crystal in the palm of her hand. It was slightly bigger than a passenger's heart and much lighter in hue, appearing almost white. Yeojin eyed it curiously as Haseul and Kahei stood at her side.

"Doesn't look like any crystal I've ever seen," the young girl commented. "How's that get us back?"

Sooyoung's odd eye glimmered as she took a breath. A small cloud of icy ether took shape in her hand, enveloping the crystal. Coalescing, the ether became frost and covered the crystal in ice. Closing her hand, Sooyoung's muscles tensed as she crushed the crystal to pieces.

Immediately, a subdued wave of energy expelled itself outwards from Sooyoung's fist. Opening her hand, a cloud of ether the same shade as the crystal materialized. The three experienced mystics stepped back, leaving a befuddled Yeojin to merely follow their lead and step back with them. For a moment, the ether remained still, merely floating in a tranquil state.

"Uh…I don't get it? What's—"

A flash of light answered Yeojin's question before she got a chance to finish it.

Covering her eyes in reaction, Yeojin slowly lowered her arms from in front of her face. Before her, an ornate white door had come into being. White in color with a black handle, it was labeled with an expensive look plaque at its center. With careful caution, Yeojin approached the door, analyzing the label.

✦ **L** eyline- **O** riented **O** rganized **N** exus of **A** lternatives – Main Laboratory ✦  
✦ Subset of the **B** roken **B** oundaries **C** oalition ✦

"Let's go."

Sooyoung smiled as she grabbed hold of the handle, opening the door. A bright light escaped, blinding Yeojin briefly. As she walked through, it began to subside. Following her, Haseul and Kahei stepped in next, disappearing into the light. Sooyoung stepped through after, closing the door behind her carefully. Once closed, it began to dissipate, becoming ether that floated away into the sky.

The door completely erased, a lonely calm returned to the secluded home in the middle of the plains. The tranquil silence was broken by the sound of boots stepping onto wood.

A figure of average height rose from a seated position on the steps with a serious, composed expression on its face. Its eyes, one hazel and the other a deep scarlet, gazed upon on where the summoned door had stood. Long blonde hair flowed with a gust of wind. An open red dress shirt and its accompanying black undershirt rustled as the breeze passed. A gloved hand grabbed a large double-sided battle axe, the edges of its steel stained with a streak of red.

"She wasn't kidding," a woman's voice arose from behind the figure. A second body stepped out from within the home. "Place is empty, Jennie."

Jennie turned to the woman who addressed her. "Sure you checked everything?"

"There was nothing to check," the woman assured with a shrug. "They ransacked her shit years ago, by the looks of it. I know it sucks to be a magus in this timeline, but damn. You see the shit they did to her mother's grave?"

Jennie's eyes followed the woman as she stepped past her down the stairs. An inch taller than Jennie, a head of dark brown hair with bangs came down to her shoulders. Opposite to Jennie, she wore an undone black blazer with a red undershirt, the long sleeves of which peeked out under the sleeves of her blazer. Navy jeans and black shoes adorned her lower body. She sighed, her mood more relaxed than her blonde haired companion. She directed mismatched eyes of brown and bright gold towards Jennie. "What now?"

"Let's get back to the rendezvous point," Jennie answered, coming down the stairs herself. Holding her axe with one hand, she rested it on her shoulder as she looked towards the expressway in the distance. "Rosé and Jisoo should be done by now."

"Can't wait to get out of this place," the other woman complained with a yawn. "Pretty boring stuff. The fiends here aren't even all that tough. Kinda wish we ambushed them back by the gas station..."

"Always looking for a fight, aren't you, Lisa?"

The brunette known as Lisa flashed Jennie a smile as her body was suddenly enveloped in a coat of crackling electricity. "And what about it?"

"I'll meet up with you ahead if you're planning on double checking the place yourself," she announced as her electric aura died down. Turning away from Jennie, she made way for the road. Jennie began to follow, but after a few steps, she turned around and faced the broken home again.

Jennie took in a deep breath. A massive cloud of crimson ether formed above the house. It settled downwards, encasing the worn structure completely. Slowly, she exhaled through puckered lips, whistling in a low pitch.

Her crimson odd eye glowed as a pillar of smoke rose into the air from the resulting explosion.

Flames rising and spreading as the house burned to the ground, Jennie turned back around and walked off slowly. With her gloved hand holding her axe, she slipped her opposing bare hand into her pocket and whistled away as memories burned down behind her. Her face unmoving, she wore an expression of eerie serenity as she headed towards the expressway.

"LOONA's final piece, huh…?"

 **「** **➤➤➤** **★** **➤➤➤** **」**

As the door closed behind her, Yeojin looked around and nodded slowly. "Well, the plaque wasn't kidding. This is definitely a laboratory…"

Now in foreign territory, Yeojin took in the area around her as the other three mystics walked forward, convening with someone just ahead.

Large computer screens littered the walls of the room. There were various desks and terminals strewn about, a few men and women in white lab coats walking between them. She felt difficulty breathing, and as she turned around with a gasp for air, she understood why.

Before her, towards the end of the room, an enormous crystal was suspended in a vertical stream of ether. It spun around very slowly, revealing fragmented indents all over that made it look like it was being mined. The large crystal and ether were colored the same shade of light gray as the crystal that Sooyoung had used to materialize the door. Feeling overwhelmed by its colossal size and becoming more and more exasperated for breath, Yeojin turned away from the crystal. She opened her mouth to inquire about it, but promptly shut it as she came to face someone.

In front of her, a man stood. Taller than Haseul, Sooyoung, and Kahei by a head, he smiled warmly at Yeojin. His hair was parted to the side in a neatly combed fashion, brown eyes below it looking at her kindly. With a lush looking buttoned up fleece jacket, slim dress pants, and black shoes, his clean presentation was rounded off with the clean shave of his chin.

"Hello."

His voice greeted her, surprisingly soft in volume. It was followed by the extension of an arm, offering a handshake.

"H-hi," Yeojin stammered, presenting her hand. With careful respectfulness, he shook her hand gently. Yeojin was particularly dumbfounded as he pulled away gracefully. She had never been treated with such diligent reverence before. "I'm Yeojin. Are you Archmagus Jeong…?"

"That's correct," he answered politely as he put his hands behind his back. "I know you've been hearing them refer to me by that title, but such lengths aren't required. Please, call me Jaden."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading! i hope you found it enjoyable. for any questions or comments outside of AO3;  
> —https://twitter.com/Helseivich  
> —https://curiouscat.me/Helseivich


	3. 「 episode 3; arc 2.1 」 —a new home//orientation— 「 yeojin iii 」

**「** **episode 3; arc 2.1** **」 —a new home//orientation— 「** **yeojin iii** **」**

“Please, make yourself at home, Yeojin. The others should be here shortly.”

Yeojin followed Jaden into an unknown room. Closing the door behind her, she found herself in a rather lofty looking office. She took measured steps forward and took in her surroundings as Jaden continued further in.

Yeojin was surrounded by walls of exquisite black marble. Her feet daintily stepped on spotless, pristine white tiles as she made her way to the center of the room. A glass coffee table was settled below an especially modern looking ceiling fan. Around the sides of the table, four pieces of black leather furniture were arranged—two single seats and two couches.

Instead of taking a seat, Yeojin looked towards the far end of the room. Her eyes followed Jaden as he made his way to a desk settled by the center of the wall. Taking a seat in a regal looking chair behind the desk, he opened a thin laptop that was set upon it. As he began to type away, Yeojin looked behind him and saw it.

Gradually, with a sparkle of amazed disbelief in her eyes, she came to face it.

“Holy hell…”

Yeojin had come to a stop in front of the massive window that acted as the entire back wall of the room. Peering through it, she gazed to the new world in front of her. From their position on the 12th floor of the building, the mystified girl was allowed the sight of a sprawling city below her.

The immediate vicinity of the city district below seemed to be filled with mostly office spaces and commercial buildings. With the sky black and the moon above, a majority of them were illuminated within. Residential apartments and recreational spaces sprawled over the next few proceeding blocks. Beyond that, Yeojin saw her main point of interest come into view as she put her hands against the glass.

Across a bridge over a large river, an impressive skyline of high-rise towers sat on the horizon. The metropolis seemed almost mountainous from where she stood. The excessively tall buildings created a jagged outline as they continued down the lengthy stretch of the river separating it from the district below. Stars were absent above as the city emanated strong light.

“Mobius.”

Jaden’s voice came into existence. His sudden speech could not pry Yeojin from her utter fascination of the sight before her as he turned his seat around. Standing up, he walked up next to the mystic and held his hands behind his back as he looked out with her. “Named for the shape of the leyline that graces its skies, the Mobius strip.”

Looking up, Yeojin understood the archmagus’ words.

Well above the dense center of life, a great leyline was settled in the sky. Even from where she stood, she could see that it was leagues beyond the thickest parts of her leyline back home.

While it flowed from one direction towards its infinite destination in the multiverse, it was anything but a proper line. Over the center of the city, the substantial road of light gray mana diverted from its pathing. It made a tilted sort of loop above most of the city, one side slightly raised over the other. At the end of the circuit, it returned to a general direction forward, fading into the horizon.

“I’ve...never seen a city that huge before,” Yeojin revealed, her eyes peeled to the sight. “Even the town I was born in was nothing close to this…”

“You’ll have more chances than you know to explore it to the fullest,” Jaden promised with a smile. “There’s much to see in Mobius, and even more to do.”

As Yeojin continued to stare out to the expanse of Mobius, Jaden made his way to a small water cooler against the wall. A series of knocks on the door broke the silence as he took a sip of his drink.

“Come in.”

Yeojin turned around as she heard the door open. Three figures made their way room into the room.

“Please excuse us!”

Yeojin walked forward slowly as three girls approached. One was as tall as Sooyoung with a head of long black hair. Another was just barely above Yeojin’s height, locks of dark blonde flowing down to her chest. The third was between them in stature with wavy, vibrant lavender hair, bright at the roots and deeper in shade at the tips.

“Hyejoo, Chaewon, Yerim. Good evening,” Jaden welcomed them courteously as he came closer.

“Hello, Jaden,” the blonde haired girl spoke with a smile. Her voice was small like her short, lightweight frame. She wore a long-sleeved teal sweater with a black butterfly on its front and khaki slacks.

“It’s good to see you, Archmagus Jeong!” the upbeat voice of the lavender haired girl followed. She bowed slightly for a brief moment. Adorned with a white tee shirt, her denim shorts stopped above her knees.

“You truly are like your sisters, Yerim,” Jaden said with a smile. His eyes moved to the girl between them. “Hyejoo, are you feeling well?”

Quietly, the tallest of the three nodded. Yeojin had to take in her apparel more properly—a black top rested beneath an equally ebony leather jacket. Much too big for her and with the zipper lose, she wore the undone oversized jacket below her shoulders. A knee-length black and white plaid skirt beneath, it was followed by thick leggings of charcoal cotton and jet black boots.

Looking down, Yeojin noticed that one of the girl’s hands were locked together with the blonde’s. Beyond a simple hand hold, their fingers were intertwined.

“I’m relieved to hear that. Thank you all for coming,” Jaden confessed, sounding particularly genuine about it. He turned towards the girl behind him. “I would like you all to meet Yeojin. She came back with our Master sorceresses today.”

Yeojin came closer, looking at the three girls. She gave a small nod with a bigger smile. She brought her index and middle finger to her forehead, pointing them forward. “Yo. What’s up?”

“It’s nice to meet you, Yeojin! I’m Yerim!” the girl with the violet hair introduced herself. Eyes of gray-blue looked at Yeojin with a beaming grin. Bright and cheerful, Yeojin felt like she was in the warm embrace of the sun itself.

“Hi, Yeojin,” the blonde girl followed, summoning Yeojin’s glance to her hazel eyes. “My name’s Chaewon. I’m happy to have you here.”

A brief silence followed. Chaewon broke it with a soft nudge to her companion, giving her a warm smile of encouragement.

Yeojin watched curiously as the girl Jaden referred to as Hyejoo looked down slightly. Awkwardly shuffling her feet, her heterochromatic eyes of dark brown and deep purple averted Yeojin’s gaze. With a tiny voice that betrayed her height, she spoke quietly as she looked up. “Hello…it’s nice to meet you. I’m Hyejoo…”

_At least there’s still some form of human life here. It could be worse._

_Yeah. Could’ve been Hyejoo’s timeline._

Kahei’s and Sooyoung’s voices became animated in Yeojin’s mind as she remembered the conversation by the gas station. She gave a small nod, both towards Hyejoo and herself. _I’m not sure what happened to her, but she’s safe now, and that’s what matters…_

“Please, have a seat, girls,” Jaden offered as he walked around towards one of the couches. Sitting down in one of the single seats, Yeojin found it was big enough for her to comfortably sit on her legs. Jaden took a seat at the end of one of the double couches, crossing his legs. Yerim joined him, sitting opposite to the archmagus.

Yeojin watched Chaewon and Hyejoo take their seats on the couch opposite Jaden and Yerim. Despite having the full length of it available to them, Hyejoo brought her legs and feet onto the couch like Yeojin as she snuggled up close to Chaewon. The blonde girl put her free hand atop their interlocked hands in her lap as Hyejoo’s rested her head onto her shoulder.

“Yeojin, to start, I’d like to welcome you to BBC,” Jaden said, extending a smile to Yeojin. “We’re all extremely happy to have you here. Thank you.”

Yeojin smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. “I should be thanking you...by what they told me, chances are I wasn’t gonna even make it to thirty years old.”

“Yes, Kahei filled me in on the details. I was distraught to hear that your timeline was that close to erasure. I hoped there might have been more time...but I want you to know that you’re safe here,” Jaden explained, resting his hands on his knee.

“In what we’ve discovered to be a more and more rare case as we’ve explored the multiverse, elementalism and the usage of mana has a place in this timeline,” he explained. “Of course, there are still those who oppose it, and their voices get stronger by the day, but we are not openly ostracized or exiled in any capacity. Just as there are groups of disillusioned people who seek to segregate us, we also have support from non-magi.

“As such, this timeline has been blessed to have reached a point where elementalism and technology have become one. Elementalism fuels technological research, and technology supports advancements in elementalism. Society has attained new heights due to that continuous cycle. A sort of symbiotic relationship, if you’d like to think of it as such,” Jaden suggested, nodding to himself.

“This degree of advancement in fields both elemental and technologic is what allowed us to begin the study of the multiverse in the first place,” the archmagus revealed, his eyes focused on Yeojin. “With that field of research came the conclusive evidence of parallel realities, which then lead to the creation of BBC.”

“The Broken Boundaries Coalition, wasn’t it?” Yeojin asked, remembering the plaque set upon the door.

“That’s correct,” Jaden confirmed. “The Broken Boundaries Coalition was formed as an alliance between nations across this world to pool together research towards the multiverse. Scientists and magi alike from all corners of our planet make great strides every day in identifying alternate timelines and measuring the purity of their leylines.”

“How do they do that…?” Yeojin questioned slowly. The other three girls remained quiet and attentive as Jaden continued.

“I believe Sooyoung informed you about how leylines cross and merge across the multiverse,” he began. “The mana present in a reality’s leyline is not exclusive to that reality. Mana from extremely divergent timelines far, far different than the one we’re in can make their way into our leyline. This means that, from a single reality, you can potentially peer into a fair amount of the multiverse.

“The main method of exploring the multiverse involves the extraction of mana from manapools. With a combination of elementalism and technology, the dense mana in a manapool can be harvested. Pockets of source mana from individual realities can be isolated. By then coalescing the isolated mana until crystallizes, travel becomes possible.

“Breaking the resulting crystal will release the isolated mana specific to that universe. Much like how mana of any element can be controlled to produce a variety of effects, this mana is manipulated to create a doorway back to its source. This is also how we can specifically target realities close to extinction—there are careful processes to safely harvest and coalesce corrupted mana into crystals, allowing for the same effect.”

“You’re harvesting corrupted mana?” Yeojin spoke with a palpable tinge of worry in her voice. “So this timeline is poisoned, too?”

“It is,” Jaden said, “but it isn’t prevalent in the slightest. There are only a few manapools thus far out of several hundred we’ve found that have become tainted. Due to the efforts of hard-working magi and some powerful mana-powered technology, we found a way to purify manapools, albeit very slowly.”

“Is that anything like purifying a...manastream, I think Haseul called it? I was injured before they showed up, and she said she extracted corrupted mana from me. Kinda like that?”

“Yes, somewhat,” Jaden answered halfway, collecting his thoughts briefly. “Processes similar to those our magi use to extract source mana can equally filter out corrupted mana. This allows us to minimize the flow of corruption coming to and from our planet, as well as create travel crystals to timelines in danger. If it adds even just a single day on this timeline’s lifespan, then it’s worth it.”

“That makes sense, but it doesn’t explain how you get back.”

Yeojin tilted her head, her expression pensive. The three girls looked to her as she tapped her chin curiously. As she closed her eyes and pondered aloud, Jaden’s smile was unseen to her.

“If you need source mana from a universe to make a gate, then to return here every time, you’d need this timeline’s source mana. How do you get that consistently enough to safely have teams venture into the multiverse and back when the leyline is mixed with mana from across every reality?”

“An astute observation,” Jaden complimented Yeojin as eyes went back to him. “That would be one of the purposes my existence serves.”

Yeojin blinked in surprise as tiny clouds of mana began to take shape in front of the archmagus. She saw it glow faintly—his permanently altered left eye that she failed to notice when she met him. Light gray in color, the faded iris deepened in shade slightly as the mana coalesced into small crystal fragments.

“It’s a result of my mana,” Jaden explained, the crystals suspended in the air in front of him. “The element I am aligned to is space-time. It exists within the center of the elemental circle, detached from the other elements. As a result, I produce mana that is the exact same as this timeline’s source mana.

“That is the purpose the crystal in the laboratory serves,” the archmagus mentioned as the stones in front of him dissipated into mana. “It is a massive coalesced mass of this timeline’s source mana. Smaller fragments are regularly mined from it and given to teams that go on out on expeditions. They can use it to return home safely. When it nears depletion, I make preparations to create a new one.”

“Wait, what?” Yeojin blurted in surprise. “That...that giant crystal is a thing you made?”

“Yes,” Jaden answered simply with a nod. “About once every year, as the crystal is on its last limbs, I spend several hours a day for upwards of a month collecting a growing mass of my mana. By coalescing it at once and having it in the lab, members of LOONA can go about rescue missions without needing me present to make return crystals for them.”

“But Haseul mentioned something about mana deprivation,” Yeojin mentioned, tilting her head further still. “It sounded serious, and what you’re describing sounds like it’d lead to it. You’re not in danger of that?”

“The further a magus increases in rank, the better their body can withstand mana deprivation,” Jaden explained. “The time and experience needed to qualify as an Archmagus are extraordinary enough that such an extensive feat is within reason for one at that level.”

Yeojin nodded firmly, satisfied with the explanation. As she looked to the other three girls, she saw them sitting quietly, not appearing as blatantly fascinated as she was. “Have you guys heard all this already?”

“That’s right,” Chaewon confirmed. Yerim and Hyejoo both nodded alongside her. “It’s sort of like an introductory lesson about Jaden’s universe for newcomers, just so you know what it’s like here.”

“Well, if you’ve all heard this already, then you’re not as new as I am, so…” Yeojin blinked in confusion as she looked to Jaden. “Why’d you bring them here?”

“Three of you share something in common, and I need you to understand that you have a choice.”

Eight attentive eyes settled upon Jaden. He looked between three of their owners as he spoke.

“You have escaped the cruel fate of an early, unjust death. You have been given a second chance at life in a world where you will not face hatred from those unlike us...or, at the very least, not anywhere near the unfortunate extent that you have suffered.”

Hyejoo’s eyes fell towards Chaewon’s hand on top of their fingers. Weakly, she squeezed Chaewon’s interlocked hand lightly. Chaewon immediately returned the action.

“Hyejoo was rescued a little under two months ago by a team of Chaewon and some of the LOONA’s other brave sorceresses,” Jaden continued. “Meanwhile, Yerim was part of the first group of refugees rescued. Three years ago, we brought her here with her sisters, Kahei and Haseul, as well as their comrades Sooyoung and Jinsol.”

“Sisters?” Yeojin repeated in surprise. “The three of you are all family?”

“Yes, they’re my older sisters,” Yerim affirmed with a smile. Her eyes practically seemed to burn with love and adoration as she spoke of them. “Sooyoung and Jinsol both worked with them back home. Kahei and Haseul were researchers while Sooyoung and Jinsol were officers in the defense force against abnormalities.”

“Abnormalities?”

“Ah, I think they call them fiends now,” Yerim clarified for Yeojin, resulting in an exchange of nods.

“I know you’ve just arrived, Yeojin, but like you, Hyejoo has not been in active training or regular combat. Similarly, despite arriving in this timeline three years ago, Yerim hasn’t either. The reason being is that you have a choice: you can join LOONA’s efforts and actively work with us in BBC, or you can live a life of peace supported by us.”

“Wait, you mean…?”

“That’s right,” Jaden answered Yeojin preemptively. “You are under zero obligation to enlist in LOONA.”

Yeojin blinked. “They said the whole point was—”

“To recruit magi in an effort to stop the one responsible for the spread of corruption throughout the multiverse, yes,” Jaden admitted. “We are devoted to that cause. That is what we work towards every day. However, I cannot force you to help us, and even if I could...I simply wouldn’t.

“You deserve a right to live your life how you please, and we will provide for you even if you decide LOONA has no place in that life,” the archmagus revealed. “So long as you take residence in any of the countries that are part of the Broken Boundaries Coalition, you will be treated as a protected refugee. Inexpensive housing will be provided, as will monthly allowances. You will also receive free counseling to adjust to life in this timeline, as well as free schooling and job training.

“It goes without saying, of course, that you are entitled to all of these benefits if you join LOONA as well. The only thing that changes is that you would have to live in the dorms here at BBC. You would also be paid regularly whether or not your excursions into alternate worlds results in the recovery of refugee magi. It should also be stated that if you decide to join LOONA, you can leave at any time and rejoin later if you desire. You have complete freedom.”

“Are you for real…?” Yeojin slowly questioned, dumbfounded disbelief present on her face.

“Yes,” Jaden answered with swiftness. As he continued to speak, Yeojin felt tremendous appreciation stirring within her heart. “From the moment you were born, you all deserved the chance to experience your life through to the end. That is your birthright. Yet, a pathetic excuse of a man took that away from you by poisoning all of creation.”

Jaden sighed as he looked between the three of them. A melancholic smile showed itself on his face and his eyes met Yeojin’s.

“All I want to do is give you back what was yours to begin with: an opportunity to live your life to the fullest. Whether or not that life involves LOONA isn’t my decision to make. It’s yours.”

Silence fell upon the group. For what felt like centuries, Yeojin focused on Jaden as his eyes wandered between the girls. He respected their collective silence, allowing them to process their thoughts.

Yeojin noticed the slight bags under Jaden’s eyes, the almost imperceptible wrinkles in his skin. How understanding his smile was, knowing he couldn’t possibly force someone from a reality beyond salvation to fight for him.

She looked at his odd eye, light in faded color. The physical manifestation of years of work making an effort to save the lives of people from entirely different universes...simply because he found a method to do so. There was a weight present on his shoulders that even she could perceive, and yet, he carried it voluntarily.

Yeojin leaned back in her seat, her fingers twirling loose bangs of hair. She had just gained a potential free lease on life. Regardless of if she joined LOONA or not, she was on the easy street now, being fed all the assistance she could ever need and more. Was she deserving of it? To Jaden, she was. A crooked old man seizing her world away from her was enough to make it so.

However, to herself, was she deserving of it...?

After a moment, Yeojin sighed and nodded to herself.

Of course she wasn’t. Better to work for it. Not to mention…

“I already promised your Master line that I’d help out, because I genuinely wanted to. Still do, too. I think only a jerk would say no at this point, hehe.”

Shifting eyes were met with a smiling Yeojin. She gave them a relaxed shrug. “Besides, getting paid to save people from doomed timelines is pretty neat. Must be a hell of a highlight for a resume, huh?”

Jaden’s face flushed with warmth, his smile wide. “Thank you, Yeojin.”

“You already know my answer too, don’t you, Archmagus Jeong?” Yerim said with a sly smile. “I told you over the phone that this was what I wanted to talk about.

“I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately,” the violet haired girl confessed. Yeojin saw a resolve that started in her eyes and extended into a determined smile. “I think I’m done sitting around. It’s already been three years and my sisters have done so much...I feels like it’s time to help them out. I told them about it this morning before they left, and they were in support of it.”

Jaden gave Yerim a proud nod. “I’m sure your sisters will be there for you every step of the way, Yerim.”

“...I’ll help, too.”

The quiet Hyejoo found herself becoming the subject of attention. For a moment, she didn’t respond. Her eyes were focused on Chaewon’s free hand above their intertwined fingers.

“If it means I can protect Chaewon, then I want to help,” Hyejoo announced with a small voice. Taking her own free hand, she placed it above Chaewon’s over theirs. “You’re the only reason I’m even here, so…”

Hyejoo lifted her head. Looking directly into Chaewon’s eyes, her violet odd eye brimmed over with an intense passion. It was as if she was staring at her own manifested will to live.

“...I want to stay by your side even when you’re universes away. I want to help keep you safe.”

Yeojin felt rather odd, in a good way. Seeing such a powerful drive to act from a girl so quiet was as unexpected as it was inspiring.

“Hyejoo...thank you.”

The heartfelt appreciation Chaewon had for Hyejoo’s sentiments was the easiest emotion Yeojin had ever gleaned from someone’s face. She conceded with herself that Hyejoo and Chaewon’s relationship—whatever it may have been—was more than a just a connection.

The way they looked into each other’s eyes. The peaceful expression set about Hyejoo’s face as she rested her head on Chaewon’s shoulder again. How Yeojin felt seeing the smile Chaewon gave everyone else in the room afterwards, and how a slight blush accompanied it…

Yeojin nodded. There was only one word applicable to them.

_If I ever needed proof that soulmates were real, well...I think I’m looking at it,_ she thought to herself with a small grin.

The smiles in the room extended back towards the other three as Jaden spoke. His hands folded on his crossed over knee, he kept his eyes low. “Truly, it cannot be articulated what this means to me and what it means for LOONA.”

“Hyejoo. Yerim. Yeojin,” he said slowly, looking to each one in turn as he stood up. Yeojin blinked in surprise as he took a bow, holding it for a brief moment before rising. “Thank you. Neophyte sorceresses you may be, but your collective ambition exists on levels beyond."

Jaden made way for his desk as he continued speaking. “With your induction into LOONA, there is a small test I must conduct, and with it, a brief lesson.”

Opening a drawer, he retrieved a small notepad. “I need to make note of the elemental affinities and directional biases the three of you possess, as well as if you have gained any additional levels in other elements. With this information, I can proceed to finalize the teams later.”

Elemental affinity made enough sense to her, but Yeojin found her mind stuck on the other term. She repeated it curiously as Jaden approached. “Directional biases?”

“I think that’s the path someone follows on the elemental wheel,” Yerim spoke up, her eyes going between Jaden and Chaewon. She smiled as they both nodded. “I remember my sisters telling me about it.”

“Yes, that’s correct,” the archmagus answered as he returned to his seat on the couch. “Excluding space-time, eight elements exist across the wheel. Fire, water, earth, and air exist as the most common alignments. Ice and electricity follow in their own tier of higher rarity. The rarest among the eight are light and darkness.

“An individual can be oriented one of two ways on the elemental wheel: clockwise or counterclockwise,” he continued, moving the sparse contents upon the coffee table between them to the sides. He set down his pen and notepad for a moment.

With a breath, Jaden’s left eye of faded gray gained the slightest bit of color. Several clouds of mana began to take shape in a circle above the coffee table. Barely larger than pebbles, he exhaled as the colored dust took shape. Eight small spheres of energy materialized and floated up a few inches into the air between them.

Starting at the north end of the circle, there was a warm sphere of pulsing light. Yeojin’s eyes wandered curiously in a clockwise fashion about the circle, taking in the elements.

Immediately following light, there was a sphere of flame. On the eastern point of the circle, a miniature earthen boulder. Continuing on, an orb of electricity, surrounded in visible bolts of lightning. At the south of the circle, a floating void was present. Pitch black, the only semblance of color it had was the deep violet of the spikes that spawned from within its seemingly empty insides.

Yeojin took notice of Hyejoo shuddering slightly. The girl’s eyes were lost within the void, her odd eye colored the same hue as its appendages.

Her eyes returned to the circle. Following darkness, a sphere of water rested. At the western edge of the circle, Yeojin felt at home as she watched green currents of wind form an orb. Above it, a snowball floated between the sphere of air and the orb of light at the northern starting point.

“Our system involves labeling your aligned element as a level eight affinity,” Jaden began, looking upon the assorted elements with the girls. “As beginners, it is the maximum level possible you can achieve with an element. With training as you rise through the ranks, or in special exceptions, you can increase it further.

“Depending on your directional bias, the immediate following element has a baseline level of seven. The one after that, six. This continues until you reach the last element in the wheel,” he explained. He made an example as he started at earth. His finger went around in a clockwise fashion, ending at the sphere of flame above it. “With a baseline affinity of level one, this element is considered your weak point.”

“With diligence and training, you can increase your proficiency with other elements in the wheel, but only to a realistic maximum of one level below the current of your natural alignment,” the archmagus said, receiving attentive nods from the Neophyte sorceresses. “The level of affinity you bear with your natural alignment cannot be replicated...not without years of training beyond your lifespan. For this reason, your aligned element is your most powerful tool.

“Thus, two things determine the elements you can easily train with and become more proficient faster with: your natural alignment and your directional bias. The higher your baseline affinity is, the easier it is to become acquainted with that element.

“After level four, it becomes a serious undertaking,” Jaden stated, pointing to the spheres of ice, light, and fire. “The lower your starting level is, the more strenuous of an effort you will have to make to gain levels. This does not change as it gains levels. If you raised an element with a baseline affinity of level two to level three, the next increase to level four will be just as difficult, if not harder.

“This is particularly exemplified with your weak point. Very few ever gain even a single level with their weakest elements. Time spent attempting such a feat could see several levels gained elsewhere.”

“I have a question…”

Hyejoo’s small voice spoke up. Eyes focused on her. Her gaze shifted from the orb of shadows to the sphere of warm light opposite to it. She focused on it intently for a moment, her violet eye appearing rather melancholic to Yeojin.

“How does someone’s alignment and directional bias develop the way it does...?” she inquired, looking up towards Jaden. Yeojin nodded to herself. That was actually a fairly good question.

“The mutation of the manastream,” Jaden began, offering an explanation. “Mana is actually the byproduct of managen, a chemical found in the atmosphere like oxygen or carbon. Beyond planetary skies, it has even been found to exist in the vacuum of space.

“Normally, managen is elementless, and is simply breathed out. We take in fresh managen, and breathe out the old. This prevents the buildup of plaque, as the manastream can suffer blockage much like the bloodstream. In non-magi, the act of breathing out managen doesn’t result in anything.

“Magi, obviously, are a different story,” the archmagus divulged, smiling at the sight of genuine interest from the three Neophyte sorceresses. “At some point during your prepubescent or adolescent years, your manastream underwent a change like the rest of your body.

“It mutated into one of seventeen different strains known thus far. With this change, your body started automatically converting elementless managen into managen of your aligned element. This converted element is what you breathe out, coalescing into mana. From there, you can coalesce it even further to summon your weapons or induce effects.”

“By effects, do you mean…?”

“Spells might be a more common way of putting it,” Jaden answered Yeojin’s question before she could finish. “An effect is simply anything you manifest or perform through the usage of mana. Coalescing mana to produce an effect could be equated to casting a spell.”

“Now, recall how your baseline levels determined by your directional bias influence how easily proficient you can become with an element,” Jaden continued. “This is tied to that aspect. When you hold your breath, your manastream begins to tick in intervals. With every tick, the managen you took in is converted one step down the wheel along your orientation. The lower your level with an element is, the longer it takes to reach its interval of conversion.”

“That explains it…”

Intrigued eyes found their way to a thoroughly amused Yeojin. She smiled widely as she looked up. “I was so confused by it, but it makes sense now! Sooyoung and Haseul both used fire ether—er, mana,” she corrected herself, “despite not being fire mysti—magi. Despite not being fire magi. So they were holding their breath to change their elements, yeah?”

“Precisely,” Jaden affirmed with a nod. “There are plenty of training exercises and lessons you’ll come to experience in due time in order to produce similar effects. In short, just remember that your natural alignment is your strongest tool. As budding Neophyte sorceresses, your first goal should be on developing it further.

“That being said, let’s discover how the three of you flow along the elemental wheel,” the archmagus said with a smile. Yeojin blinked as a small cloud of light gray dust formed in front of her. Jaden’s odd eye glimmered as he looked to her. “All you need to do is exhale onto it.”

Giving a slow nod, Yeojin leaned down towards the cloud. With an outward breath, she witnessed it become washed over with green. Suddenly, it rocketed towards the sphere of wind at the east of the circle. Encompassing it, it began to flow south, making a circuit and stopping at the orb of ice. Along its path, none of the elements reacted to the mana.

“Yeojin, your alignment lies within wind,” Jaden announced. “Bearing a counterclockwise orientation, your baseline levels are normal. With a weak point in ice, you’re a level thirty six magus.”

Yeojin tilted her head upon hearing that her weak point was ice. She didn’t comment on it, in fear of it being a silly coincidence, but it was interesting to consider the possibility of that being why she hated cold weather…

The verdant dust around the sphere of wind floated upwards. Returning to its light gray hue, Jaden gave Yerim a smile as it approached her next. “Yerim, if you would.”

With a bright smile, Yerim exhaled lightly into the cloud. Yeojin’s eyed perked up as it was overtaken by the color of fire. The red-orange cloud practically blasted off towards the sphere of flame at the northeast before heading upwards. It completed its circuit at the earthen orb on the eastern edge.

“Yerim, you are a fire-aligned magus with a counterclockwise directional bias,” the archmagus proclaimed. “Your weak point lies within earth. With your levels at their baselines, you also stand at level thirty six.”

Yerim’s smile extended itself to Jaden as his mana lifted itself from the small boulder. Returning to its shade, it floated over towards Hyejoo. He looked to the quiet girl. There was clear apprehension in her quivering eyes. Her grip on Chaewon’s hand tightened, and in turn, Chaewon returned it.

Nervously, Hyejoo exhaled upon the cloud. For a moment, it remained still. Then, gradually, it shifted into a deep amethyst hue much like her eye. The dark purple cloud found its way to the void of darkness at the south end of the table.

Yeojin briefly felt the immense surge of power escape before it was subdued.

The sphere of shadows became instantly contained within a clear triangular prism after it expelled a measurable wave of force. The girls’ hair whipped wildly in response, and the items on the table were tossed to the corner of the room.

Jaden’s odd eye was alight more noticeably than before as he gazed upon it. Hyejoo shuddered uncomfortably as the protruding spikes stemming from the abyss within the orb wildly lashed outwards. They attempted to pierce their prison, retracting and extending themselves with great force. The quiet girl’s breathing went heavy as Chaewon brought her in closer.

The archmagus remained calm as Hyejoo's mana went about a circuit to the northeast. It passed the first four elements without incident. The remaining four, however, dwindled severely on its path. The sphere of light dimmed. The orb of ice started to melt. The sphere of wind became a weaker than a breeze, and the orb of water’s inner waves came to an eerie standstill.

There was a moment of silence as Jaden looked to Hyejoo. Slowly coming to her senses as the sphere of spiked shadows gave in to its imprisonment, she looked up to Jaden. Terror was present on her face.  

“Hyejoo...is aligned to darkness with a counterclockwise orientation,” he announced slowly. “Her affinity for the elements are as follows. Electricity stands at level seven. Earth at level six, fire at level five. These follow the standard baselines they should.”

He eyed the weakened elements. “Hyejoo’s affinity with light, ice, air, and water are level one. In a heavily abnormal case separated from the norm, she has four weak points. Aside from the natural weak point to water as per her orientation, levels of affinity have been stripped from light, ice, and air.”

Eyes focused on the void of shadows within the triangular prism. Yeojin felt unnerved looking at the miniature abyss. It vibrated slightly, almost alive with hostile malevolence.

“Hyejoo’s lost levels exist within her natural alignment,” Jaden declared, “She is a level thirty eight magus with a level sixteen affinity towards darkness.”

A tense silence fell over the room. One by one, the manifested elemental spheres faded away from existence as Jaden stood up. Retrieving the notepad and pen from the floor, he wrote down the collected information as he made way for his desk. The sphere of shadows vanished last, everyone’s eyes focused intently on it.

“How...how does that happen?” Yeojin began, almost afraid to know but great curiosity leading her to ask anyway. Her eyes found Hyejoo, but the girl of darkness only looked down to Chaewon’s hand on theirs. “You’re a newbie like Yerim and I, right? A Neophyte…?”

“A great trauma befell Hyejoo in her timeline. An event with repercussions far beyond the likes of anything we’ve ever witnessed before,” Jaden explained from his desk at the end of the room. Glances turned to him; Yeojin’s and Yerim’s worried, and Chaewon’s and Hyejoo’s strained and pleading. “It altered the state of her manastream greatly. As a result, an immense wellspring of untapped power now lies within her. However, it came at a price that no one should have to pay.”

“As for exactly what happened...” the archmagus started. He sighed, his words trailing off as he retrieved something from a drawer and left the notepad on the desk. Hyejoo shut her eyes.

“...to claim that now is the proper time to share that information would be folly.”

Immediate relief washed over Chaewon’s face. Hyejoo opened her eyes slowly, clutching onto Chaewon’s arm with a deep breath. Yeojin looked to them with concern as Jaden approached the group again, speaking up. Chaewon gave him an especially appreciative smile which he returned in earnest.

“Hyejoo was retrieved very recently. As with any form of trauma, we must be respectful and exercise proper care and caution as she works towards recovery. When the time comes, we can talk about it. For now, Yeojin, I’d like you to have this.”

Yeojin turned her head, finding herself being handed a smartphone. She blinked, pulling out her own. “I already…”

The realization hit her, and she nodded as a result. “Right, right...completely different timeline. I’m probably a few thousand universes away from getting a signal, if not way more…”

“It’s likely our technology is similar enough to transfer things between your old device and this one, at the least,” Jaden offered in ease of her worries. “You’ll find the means to do so in your dorm room. Furthermore, you’ll find the rest of the sorceresses in LOONA already assembled in your contacts. And, now that Yerim and Hyejoo have joined our ranks as well, I can do this…”

Jaden went quiet as his fingers tapped away on the phone screen. Suddenly, vibrations came from the pockets of Yerim, Hyejoo, and Chaewon. They pulled out smartphones similar to the one Yeojin held. Yeojin’s vibrated last, summoning her gaze as a notification popped onto her screen.

**「 You have been added to a group chat: LOONA. 」**

Yeojin’s phone began to buzz incessantly along with the others. Chaewon and Yerim smiled as they looked their screens. Hyejoo remained mostly neutral. Yeojin curiously tapped into the messaging app, seeing the source of the storm of notifications.

**[8:01pm x jinsol]** _anyway that’s why giant robots are really cool and why everyone should totally buy me the model kits so i can build more of them_  
**[8:01pm x jinsol]** _yo who the fuck_  
**[8:01pm x heejin]** _aaaaa new people! hi!!_  
**[8:01pm x hyunjin]** _aeong_ **  
** **[8:01pm x heejin]** _hyunjinnie they’re not from our universe they’re not gonna understand that asdslkd_  
**[8:01pm x jungeun]** _i mean i’m from your universe and i still don’t understand it._  
**[8:02pm x jiwoo]** _oh, new recruits? welcome :)_  
**[8:02pm x jinsol]** _wait thats yerim and hyejoo so only one of them is new. sooyoung’s team came back already??_  
**[8:02pm x jiwoo]** _yeah they got back not long ago!_  
**[8:02pm x jinsol]** _AND NO ONE TOLD ME?????///_  
**[8:02pm x sooyoung]** _hey everyone shut the fuck up for a second._  
**[8:02pm x jinsol]** _Why._  
**[8:02pm x sooyoung]** _mostly because i said so. actually, not mostly. just entirely because i said so. alright thanks._  
**[8:02pm x sooyoung]** _hyunjin are you and jungeun still gonna spar?_  
**[8:02pm x hyunjin]** _yeah we’re heading over now_  
**[8:02pm x sooyoung]** _great. time to go watch my girlfriend get her ass beat by jungeun_  
**[8:02pm x hyunjin]** _thanks love you too_

“You’ll find that your fellow allies in LOONA can be a rather lively bunch,” Jaden said with a warm smile towards Yeojin specifically as he pocketed his phone. A little flustered by the concept of introducing herself in the middle of a fast-moving group chat, Yeojin nodded sheepishly and quietly put the conversation on mute.

The other girls put their phones away as Jaden spoke up. “That should conclude everything here for tonight. You’re free to go about the rest of your night in peace. You’ll find your dorms in the hallway of the floor above us if you wish to retire to your rooms.

“I would suggest spectating the practice bout between Hyunjin and Jungeun, however,” the archmagus proposed, raising his eyebrows with an intrigued look in his eyes. “I have some paperwork to attend to and some calls to make, so I unfortunately cannot attend. You can find them on the seventh floor. Even as newly initiated Neophytes, you may be able to learn something from their heated practice.”

“Would you all like me to show you the way?” Chaewon offered, inciting an eager nod from Yerim and a curious one from Yeojin. They followed her lead as she stood, Hyejoo in hand. Holding the door open for them, Chaewon let the Yerim and Yeojin out first. The blonde girl looked back to Jaden with a smile that seemed to hold more appreciation than it showed.

“Thank you, Jaden.”

“No, Chaewon,” Jaden said across the room as he sat down, “thank you.”

Slowly, Chaewon nodded. Walking forward with Hyejoo in hand, she led the girl out to the hall. Before leaving, Hyejoo turned her head towards the archmagus for a moment. He extended her smile to her in kind.

The girl of darkness smiled back.

As his door shut, Jaden’s eyes didn’t stray. He focused on it, his smile slowly fading. He took a worried breath as he leaned back in his chair slightly. Running a hand through his hair, he was lost in thought.

“A level sixteen affinity for darkness...to have experienced such a cataclysmic event and still be able to smile,” he said to himself, sitting back up straight and opening his laptop again. “Hyejoo...your will to live exceeds that of anyone I’ve ever seen. If such strength truly comes solely from your connection to Chaewon, then it would be wrong for me arrange the teams in any other way…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading! i hope you found it enjoyable. for any questions or comments outside of AO3;  
> —https://twitter.com/Helseivich  
> —https://curiouscat.me/Helseivich


	4. 「 episode 4; arc 2.2 」 —a new home//ignition— 「 yeojin iv 」

**「** **episode 4; arc 2.2** **」 —a new home//ignition— 「** **yeojin iv** **」**

As she stepped out of the elevator, Yeojin found herself not in a hallway, but more like a sector of space.

In a massive area stretching in all directions, the seventh floor of the building was not several rooms, but one big one. A wide open arena of sorts with similar black marble walls, clean white bleachers aligned the sides of the area for spectators. Down the middle, the area was an empty expanse that resembled a school gymnasium. In place of sports equipment being strewn about, various runic circles of different sizes were inscribed across the hardwood floor.

Chaewon lead the three girls towards a row of seats near the center of the room. Yeojin looked up as she took a seat below and to the left of Yerim, and just a little away from the embraced pair of light and dark. In the far upper corner of the seats on their side, Sooyoung sat. She was sprawled out comfortably, a leg extended over some seats.

Yeojin smiled as Sooyoung nodded in her general direction. The younger girl waved.

“You’ve got to stop asking me for these late night practice rounds. You know how early I like to go to bed.”

“It’s not ten o’clock yet, grandma.”

A conversation could be heard at the edge of the area. From a door connected to a stairwell, three figures emerged. A tall girl a head above Yeojin was at the front, ebony locks formed into a braided ponytail that fell over her shoulder. A long series of bangs fell down the other side of her face. “Besides, you could’ve just said no.”

A girl barely shorter than her replied. “We haven’t had a round in a minute, so…”

Locks of ash-gray hair fell to her shoulders, neatly tucked behind her ears. The top of her head had hair as braided as the other’s ponytail. She smiled towards her sparring partner. “Can’t let myself get too rusty.”

Behind the two of them, Yeojin smiled as she saw Kahei close the door behind them. She followed them at a relaxed pace as they beat her to the center of the arena.

They stood a fair amount of paces away from one another. Kahei stood between them, her eyes scanning the crowd. With a smile, she looked back to the two combatants. “It appears you have a small audience today, including our three Neophytes.”

“We better give them a show then, Jungeun,” the ebony haired girl replied with a smirk. She brought a closed fist into the palm of her open hand in front of her. Her yellow tank top and deep blue jeans were accompanied with a length of bandages wrapped around each arm. Extending from just below the shoulder to halfway down her hands, the upper halves of her fingers and palms were the only parts exposed.

“Hyunjin, I think it’s more like you just want to look cool in front of Sooyoung,” the gray haired girl teasingly responded. She removed her hands from the back pockets of her black denim slacks and pulled the collar of her featureless red shirt slightly. Her eyes of mixed hazel and crimson red seemed to be appraising her opponent. “You gain some levels recently or something? You look confident.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Hyunjin indecisively stated, returning Jungeun’s gaze with her own eyes of dark brown. “Guess we’ll see. Nothing wrong with wanting to impress my girlfriend, by the way.”

“Sorceresses, we will now begin,” Kahei said with a small smile as the two sorceresses exchanged playful grins. The older sorceress pushed up her glasses. “Please call forth your weapons.”

Jungeun went first, as was evident by the blast of heat that immediately erupted from her center.

Her crimson eye came alive as a flaming aura of scarlet mana took shape around her with an exhaled breath. It redirected itself in front of her, thinning out into a line.

Coalescing, it materialized into a tall metal pole as red as her eye. The top of it was affixed with a fusion of two weapons; an extended spearhead, and at the base of it below, the medium sized blade of an axe. The steel of the conjoined weapons was a shade of crimson deeper than the pole they were attached to.

Grasping onto it as it finished materializing, Jungeun held the halberd next to her with the bottom of the pole on the ground. The entire weapon nearly six feet in length, it towered above her by a measurable distance. Etched runes came to life across the steel, and a small assortment continued down the pole.

“Alright, Hyunjin,” Jungeun commented with a smirk. “Show the newbies what’s underneath the scary bandages.”

“Gladly.”

Hyunjin prepared herself next, breathing in steadily with open eyes that stared right into Jungeun’s. Her left eye lightened in hue, becoming a bright shade of mahogany as her brown mana took shape with her exhale.

Simultaneous with her mana forming, the wrapped bandages surrounding her arms gradually disintegrated into similarly colored dust. What lay beneath was revealed—muscular arms as toned as Sooyoung’s, lightly inked with the outlines of tattoos that spiraled around in every direction, completely encompassing her arms.

The mana she had summoned moved down in two streams, mixing with the resulting mana of her bandages’ erasure. The sources combined, multiplying in density as each of her arms became surrounded in clouds. Yeojin and Yerim alike were peculiarly surprised as the mana sank into her arms. Her tattoos appeared to come to life, the mana becoming dark brown ink that filled the empty spaces of her tattoos in.

The intricate designs of intertwined shapes and figures now complete, Yeojin was dumbfounded by the process as Hyunjin stood with decorated upper limbs. She shook her hands by the wrists with a smirk before cracking her knuckles and then her neck. “Alright, Granny Jungeun. Wakey wakey.”

“Still talking like that after last time?” Jungeun remarked with an amused scoff as she took her stance. She placed one leg behind her, gripping her polearm by the bottom and the center of the shaft. “You must really want me to show the Neophytes why I’m the Adept and why you’re the Intermediate here.”

Hyunjin replied to the taunt with a smug grin as Kahei lowered an extended palm to the floor beneath them. Her earthen mana took shape, streaming down to the largest runic circle in the center of the area. As she did, Yeojin heard a loud whirring noise.

Looking up, she witnessed thin stretches of the ceiling receding. Mechanisms similar to a garage door seemed to be at work as large panes of extremely thick glass were slowly brought down in front of the bleachers. Etched into them were runic circles similar to the floor.

“Give it your all,” Kahei sweetly encouraged the two as she began to make way towards the side of the audience stands that everyone was collected on. She slipped underneath the wall of glass before it came all the way down. As the sounds of the ceiling’s mechanisms came to a stop, Jungeun and Hyunjin were securely locked into an empty playground.

The runic circle between the two fighters became illuminated with a bright light that quickly spread across the battleground, extending up to the glass walls which had their circles lit up as well.

The sight seemed familiar to Yeojin. “Is that a barrier?”

“That’s correct,” Kahei’s voice answered her from out of her view. Yeojin looked to the Master sorceress as she sat down next to her. Yerim was quick to change seats, sitting on the other side of Kahei with excited intrigue. “Much like our own barriers, it’ll protect the arena from becoming damaged.”

“So then what’re the rules?” Yerim inquired, watching with curiosity as the wave of light continued upwards still. Runic circles on the ceiling that Yeojin hadn’t even initially noticed came to life.

“The winner is decided by means of depleting their enemy’s barrier first,” the scholarly Kahei explained. “Alternatively, if the barrier of the arena falls first and both fighters still have their shields, it’s declared a draw.”

“Seeing a lot focus on this barrier business,” Yeojin commented, tilting her head. “There’s a lot going on with it…”

“It’s what allows us to engage in combat with fiends of all manner and shape without the requirement of overly cumbersome armor,” Kahei informed them, bringing about understanding nods from Yeojin and Yerim. From a bit down the bleachers, Hyejoo’s eyes were focused on Kahei. She listened just as intently. “Without them, we wouldn’t be able to move as we could in battle.”

As a loud buzzer began to sound off in the area, the final of its siren-like noises being slightly longer than the penultimate one, Yeojin immediately made sense of Kahei’s words.

With a downright frightening burst of speed and impeccable might behind her launch, Hyunjin leapt into the air towards her right the moment the final buzzer went off. In response, Jungeun broke out in an agile sprint parallel to her. Flipping her halberd over, she dashed with the axehead downwards and facing Hyunjin.

Displaying unreal dexterity, Hyunjin rotated herself over in mid-air, the soles of her boots stomping hard onto the glass wall. With a show of force, she expelled herself off of it after a delay so short it was nearly beyond perception. Flying towards Jungeun, her body was carried by the significant velocity of her rebounded launch. The strength Hyunjin exerted to bounce off the wall was enough to cause a slight crack in the glass’ barrier.

She spun around vertically with an outstretched leg towards a still running Jungeun. She touched ground with a downward axe kick so outwardly violent that significant damage showed itself at the point of impact, the hardwood floor's shield suffering expansive veins of splintered cracks. For all of her effort, however, Hyunjin had missed her target.

Jungeun had spun backwards with her polearm extended, performing a defensive fading slash with the axe end. The strike made contact with Hyunjin’s foreleg, deploying a small amount of force onto the martial artist’s barrier. She slid back in place very slightly, minor cracks manifesting at the spot of impact in the brief moment her barrier flashed into being.

A question came to Yeojin’s mind as the battle unfolded. She pondered it aloud as she watched the two magi clash. “How is it that damage to a barrier happens, exactly? Is it just the force of the attack, or is there more to it…?”

“The power behind a strike is only one aspect,” Kahei answered the inquisitive Yeojin. “Your affinity towards the element of the incoming attack is just as important.”

“Archmagus Jeong told us about that in his office,” Yerim informed Kahei, bringing her older sister’s eyes to her. “The level system, right?”

“Correct,” Kahei affirmed with a nod. “Your level of affinity with an element details more than just how quickly you can convert managen into it or how well you can utilize corresponding effects. It is also an indication on how well your barrier will defend you against it.”

Dashing straight towards Jungeun, Hyunjin’s odd eye began to glow as the spearwoman took a defensive stance. Suddenly, Hyunjin slid to a stop. Raising her right foot, she suddenly slammed it down hard with an exhaled breath. Stomping a freshly materialized runic circle beneath her with immense force, it broke to pieces as a moderately sized charcoal boulder quickly came into existence right above Jungeun’s head. The barrier of the arena floor beneath Hyunjin flashed, veins of cracks spreading from her stomp.

Not suspending it with mana, Hyunjin allowed the boulder to be subjected to gravity. Keeping her wits about her, Jungeun reacted to the feint in time with a long leap backwards. The boulder crushed nothing but air as it fell onto the floor with a loud crash. A veritable web of cracks on the floor showed itself, the floor barrier taking heavy damage from the large rock’s fall.

Landing on her feet, Jungeun looked up and witnessed the sight of Hyunjin positioned in the air above the boulder.

Using the sizable stone as a launch point, Hyunjin had jumped straight up. She took an especially deep breath. A mass of mana dissipated from her left arm, the inked fillings of her tattoos receding slightly as some of her upper arm lost color. As a result, a perceptible aura of earthen energy gloved her right hand as she swiftly fell to the earth. She made impact at the top of the rock formation with her hand, and with it, the entirety of it shattered into pieces.

“Your weak point is not called as such simply because you will find difficulty in making use of that element for effects,” Kahei divulged to a wide-eyed Yerim and Yeojin, the fledgling sorceresses impressed by the scene before them. Hyejoo was equally growing invested in the action, leaning forward with Chaewon slightly.

“Weapons manifested from elements will apply corresponding elemental damage with any strike they perform,” she continued, “similar to effects brought about by the manipulation of mana. When an element strikes your barrier, the severity of the damage it suffers is based on your level of proficiency with that element.

“Barrier damage is measured at the average of a level four affinity towards an element. Levels five through seven have increasing defenses, while levels eight or higher can withstand especially fierce strikes with ease. Levels three and two will struggle to withstand most hits,” Kahei explained, watching the battle with analytical eyes.

The resulting debris from Hyunjin’s rock found itself suspended as she took another breath. Sharp, jagged stones that once formed a whole were launched towards Jungeun at a great speed, inciting the woman of fire to quickly act. As an initial wave of Hyunjin’s projectiles nicked her barrier and brought small fissures over her body’s coat of light, the rest were subdued by a massive barricade of flame.

Stabbing her halberd into the ground by the tip, Jungeun’s vermilion eye flashed with fire as a mass of crimson mana took shape in front of her. With her breath, it coalesced into a raging blockade of flame that quickly swept forwards. The threat of being encompassed by it increasing with its approach, Hyunjin redirected the remaining debris backwards in a defensive maneuver.

It assimilated in front of her, recollecting into thick wall of earth taller and wider than her own body by a slight margin. As the wave of fire subsided, Hyunjin found herself suddenly pushed back by force. Unbeknownst to her, Jungeun had rushed forward behind the cover of her flames to pierce through the earthen barrier with her spear.

Her plan came to fruition as she felt the tip of her halberd make contact with Hyunjin’s body. She exerted strength forwards, watching the wall of rock crumble to dust as Hyunjin slid back a fair distance. Her barrier glimmered briefly, revealing a moderate series of cracks centered on her chest.

“So taking a hit from your weak point is seriously bad news, huh?” Yeojin deduced.

“That’s putting it very lightly,” Kahei warned. “In the worst circumstances, if an attack or effect is powerful enough, the entirety of your barrier can be destroyed in one fell strike. With further force, the protective runes on your clothing which summon your barrier can break, requiring new ones to be set in.”

“You mean you can’t just recharge the shield?” Yeojin asked, her eyes finding Sooyoung. The swordswoman was equipped with a calm expression as she watched her partner in combat. “The thing that Haseul did earlier today, when you guys fought that passenger...she healed Sooyoung’s shield, right?”

“Yes, that was a barrier recharge,” Kahei said with a nod. “Barrier runes set upon clothing are charged with mana. When your shield takes damage, this mana depletes. It can be refilled with ease by elements naturally suited to healing—light, water, and air. They can also recharge themselves over time, though it’s a much slower process.

“However, if you suffer force strong enough to break the runes themselves, commonly through weak point damage, you’ll be without a shield until you can acquire new clothing. After that, without a barrier, you will find yourself at a serious risk of having your manastream become corrupted even versus the most basic of fiends.”

Jungeun’s offense was without end.

As she approached Hyunjin at the other end of the arena, her scarlet eye pulsed with light as various spheres of mana took shape a short distance ahead. Exhaling, red runic circles then took shape right in front of her. With each one she deftly slashed in the middle of her continued dash, a cloud of mana coalesced into orb of flame which was expelled forwards.

The vermilion fireballs propelled themselves towards Hyunjin at varying speeds and angles, creating a staggered assault. It was quite clear that the Adept sorceress knew better than to let herself be predictable. In response, Hyunjin opened her eyes wide as she inhaled a hefty breath of air.

Exhaling quickly through her nostrils, a massive formation of earthen mana came to existence in front of the martial artist. The tattoos on Hyunjin’s left arm quickly lost a sizable amount of their ink as mana seeped out from them. The mana joined with the rest she summoned. A monstrous runic circle came to life, standing in front of her vertically.

Rearing back her arm, the ground beneath Hyunjin gave way as her entire body briefly surged with a wave of energy outwards. Gathering strength, she tightened her fist and slammed it forwards, shattering the circle into fragments with a punch of insane strength. Her odd eye illuminated itself to an extreme degree as a remarkably titanic barrier spawned from the coalescence of her mana.

Thick and dense gray stone stopped Jungeun’s torrent of fireballs without issue. The earth magus was safe behind cover as the ranged volley crashed into her emergency defense system.

“Whoa, seriously?!” Yeojin couldn’t help but respond in surprise to Hyunjin’s immense creation. “That girl’s only an Intermediate level sorceress? How many ranks ahead of us is that?”

“The next proceeding,” Kahei informed the wind magus. “Neophyte, Intermediate, Adept, Master, Grandmaster, and finally, Archmagus.”

“Kahei, what does earth excel at?” Yerim’s question followed next, fascinated by Hyunjin’s application of the element. “I thought it would be defense, like with that wall, but the way she’s been using it in general…”

“The element of earth is no slouch when it comes to DPS,” Kahei announced, smiling proudly. “We of earth are capable when it comes to offense. It’s not nearly as potent as ice, fire, or electricity, but it is comfortably average in offensive capabilities alongside water. Air follows, and then light.”

“DPS?” Yerim parroted, tilted her head. “What does that mean?”  
  
“It stands for—”

“Damage per second.”

To the surprise of the group, Hyejoo had cut off Yeojin. It seemed to be unintentional as she blushed slightly with embarrassment when she was suddenly met with the glances of the other girls. Chaewon smiled especially brightly.

“Do you mind if I explain it…?” Hyejoo posed a question to Yeojin, appearing eager to divulge the information.

“Go for it," Yeojin allowed the girl with an encouraging smile.

“It’s...it’s a term from online games that means how good something is at inflicting damage,” Hyejoo explained, forming a small smile even through her bashful expression. She seemed well-versed and personally invested the topic. “Something that has high DPS or is focused on DPS means it has strong damage output. It comes from MMORPGs mostly...there are classes that fall into roles of tanks, DPS, and healers.”

“The terms you guys use in LOONA really extend that far into this whole theme of an MMO?” Yeojin directed her question towards Kahei. “I thought you guys were mostly just being cute when Sooyoung talked about enmity and aggro…”

“Quite the contrary,” Kahei revealed with a soft giggle. “It was Jinsol’s idea when we arrived here three years ago. She played some of those games with her friends back in our world. In truth, the concepts fit surprisingly well to the teams of four we’ll be operating in. While the terminology was rather niche, Archmagus Jeong settled into it eagerly.”

“Tanks keep an enemy’s attention by holding aggro so the DPS can focus on burning down mobs with high damage,” Hyejoo spoke up again, focused on the battle once more. Kahei smiled, glad to let the timid girl take the reigns again. “Healers help out with damage when they can, but they’re best source of recovering health, so they have to stop and be sure to heal when necessary.”

“I couldn’t have said it better myself,” Kahei complimented Hyejoo with a warm smile. The smile extended to Chaewon who rubbed Hyejoo’s intertwined hand with hers. Hyejoo smiled sweetly. “To answer your original question, however, Yerim—earth’s strongest aspect is team support through various means.

“Walls to nullify projectiles as Hyunjin just did, creating earthquakes to displace an enemy’s footing...there are many ways its defensive strengths can manifest. While it’s damage is average, that is only a baseline, however. Hyunjin’s immense physical strength from years of physical training allows her to attack in ways that would perform more damage than you would expect from the element.”

Kahei’s comment on Hyunjin’s physical strength became even more apparent with her next maneuver.

Sliding to a stop a distance away from the earthen wall, Jungeun’s eyes seemed to scanned the area around and above it, trying to react to wherever the martial artist might choose to emerge from. She took a defensive stance and kept her breathing in check, keeping the entirety of the barricade in her field of view so she could focus on the area surrounding it.

The lack of attention paid towards the center resulted in her being met with an unreal force.

From behind her blockade, Hyunjin had started a furious sprint towards the close by back wall of the arena. She employed a measurable degree of force leaping off the ground, cracking the floor’s barrier. The wall’s barrier was even more severely fissured as she flipped her body in mid-air, planting her feet against for another amplified rebound.

Flying towards the center of her defensive structure with intense speed, Hyunjin inhaled deeply. Mana took form around her left arm. The same arm came to life as ink drained from it once again, now nearly empty. Her earthen mana compounded with great density, and with an exhale, it coalesced around the limb—a sleeve of thick, slightly uneven cobblestone, fitted around the arm.

Equipped with an enhanced appendage, Hyunjin effortlessly smashed through the middle of her wall, barreling forwards in the air towards Jungeun. With no time to prepare, she was left only to anchor herself to the ground as she flipped her polearm over, the spear end aimed up at Hyunjin. With a forward thrust, the tip of her weapon met with Hyunjin’s stone fist.

The resulting wave of energy was calamitous in nature.

Originating from the point of impact between them, a burst of force rushed outwards, sweeping their hair and clothing. As it passed Hyunjin’s wall of rock, it instantly shattered into pieces, falling over in large chunks. Equally, the entirety of the arena’s barriers cracked slightly.

Landing on her feet, Hyunjin anchored herself to the ground in a manner similar to her opponent. She continued to push forward with her rocky fist into the tip of Jungeun’s halberd. Jungeun returned an equal amount of force, seemingly capable of more physical might than her body might have portrayed. As the two continued to exert force into one another, their barriers activated. Jungeun began to inhale slowly.

Both of their shields started to gradually fissure at a similar rate. Small cracks, equal in size, expanded at the same pace. The sight put Yeojin in awe. “They’re really evenly matched…”

“Jungeun and Hyunjin truly are sparring partners meant for one another,” Kahei said with a smile. “Jungeun is a fire-aligned magus with a clockwise orientation. Her next immediate element is earth, with which she has a level seven affinity. Hyunjin is a counterclockwise based earth magus, meaning her next element is fire, equally at level seven.”

“So they both have naturally high defenses against each other’s element,” Yerim surmised, her eyes alive with wonder as she watched the scene. “In a one-on-one situation like this, you especially wouldn’t want to be fighting someone who can use an element you’re weak to, then…”

“A duel between magi carries an added danger of that, yes,” Kahei told the group. “Without allies at your side, you won’t last nearly as long when met with an enemy that can exploit your weak point. Having a proper team that can cover an array of elements is most desirable...”

Another outward wave of energy interrupted the conversation.

It came from the two magi, still firmly stood at their positions as they exerted more and more of their physical might into each other. They had a dense network of fissured splits across the coats of light that surrounded their bodies.

Their barriers were close to giving way. Both clenched their teeth fiercely as cracks on the floor’s shielding beneath them rapidly spread outwards from below. Were it not for the arena’s self-defense system, Yeojin could have easily imagined them standing in craters of their own downward force as they held their position.

“The hell?!”

For the first time in the encounter, a voice broke out between the two combatants. As both their barriers and the glass walls approached a complete shattering, Jungeun had made her move.

After a slow and steady continuous inhaling of air that she started from the onset of their centralized clash, the spearwoman finally exhaled. Hyunjin’s eyes widened as a thick mist of ocean blue mana took shape, gradually shrouding the two of them and a large region of the arena.

“You converted this much that quickly?!” Hyunjin shouted in surprise, the sight perplexing her greatly. She was not met with an answer, but instead with a dense white mist.

In the same moment the mana around them took the form of water, a scorching wave of heat flew outwards from the tip of Jungeun’s spear. She had quickly coalesced her natural mana as her heavy cloud of water mana did the same. The effect was staggered, flames coming to life a split second after the liquid materialized.

What should have been a downpour of water became the birth of a steamy fog. Thick and heavy, both parties lost sight of each other as it enveloped the area. Expecting a surprise attack, Hyunjin turned around and braced herself. As the steam gradually subsided, nothing was revealed in front of her. Confusion made itself clear on her face, but it was quickly washed over with anxious surprise.

In the middle of turning back around, Hyunjin was tripped at the ankle by Jungeun’s leg. Hyunjin’s barrier triggered as she fell to the floor, her body immersed in a sea of sizable fissures. Barely holding itself together, her shield of light clung to life for another moment before it met its end.

Holding her spear vertically with a foot atop Hyunjin’s abdomen, Jungeun brought the tip of her polearm down towards Hyunjin’s chest. Knowing she wouldn’t need much more damage, the force she exerted was measured. With little effort, the end of her weapon sank into the Hyunjin’s shield as the final cracks took shape. A wave of energy erupted from the martial artist as her barrier shattered.

A circle of runes flashed with a dim light on Hyunjin’s shirt. In a similar fashion, lines of them came to life down each side of the legs of her jeans. With weak strength, they glowed their last before losing their light entirely as they faded back into the fabric.

In unison, the expansive array of runic circles that littered the arena all began to emit mana. Emptying themselves, they deactivated. In turn, the ceiling’s mechanics kicked in, slowly recalling the protective walls of glass.

Hyunjin took an exasperated breath as she laid on the floor. The pointed end of Jungeun’s halberd above her chest began to dematerialize upwards, a crimson runic circle running up its length. Her weapon gone, Jungeun’s still crimson eye looked at Hyunjin with an amused smile as she removed her foot from the girl’s stomach and extended an arm down.

Hyunjin took hold of Jungeun’s limb by the elbow, being assisted up. Not standing fully, the earth magus was content to sit on the floor as she collected her breath. Legs up in front of her, she rested her arms on her knees. “Shit, Jungeun. That was dirty. You seriously converted that much mana just to hide yourself and then you didn’t even move?”

Jungeun smiled with a proud laugh as the others rose from their seats in the bleachers. “Flanking you there is the most obvious move possible. I’m not that predictable.”

“And that, Neophyte sorceresses, was an excellent display of mana conversion in action as well as the fusion of elements to produce a compound effect.”

Jungeun and Hyunjin craned their heads to see the approach of a warmly smiling Kahei, new students in tow. Getting up off the floor, Hyunjin lifted herself to her feet and shook her wrists. Yeojin watched with extreme interest as the girl’s tattooed arms began to empty themselves of ink. Returning to their base outlines, the mana they released coalesced itself back into the form of her bandages. One end loose, she tightened it as she looked to Yeojin. “You the new girl?”

“Me? Ah, uh, y-yeah!” Yeojin stammered in surprise, eliciting smiles from Jungeun and Yeojin. “My name’s Yeojin. Just got here.”

“What’s your alignment?” Jungeun asked curiously, tilting her head.

“Wind,” Yeojin told her, a light breeze caressing her body as she took a breath. Her hair swayed slightly. “Jaden said I was level thirty six.”

“A fresh newbie,” Hyunjin said with a smile, placing a hand on her hip. “Nice. Welcome to the team.”

“Yerim and Hyejoo decided to join too, then?” Jungeun questioned, inciting nods from the both of them. She nodded towards them, smiling kindly. “Good to know we’re finally getting somewhere, then. Thanks, guys.”

“God damn, it is _fun_ to watch you get your ass kicked.”

Sooyoung approached the group from behind with a taunting smirk. Hyunjin returned the notion, smiling with a laugh. “In front of the Neophytes, babe? That’s pretty savage.”

Hyunjin’s smile widened greatly as Sooyoung came close to her. The swordswoman put an arm over the barely shorter girl. Hyunjin raised her hand towards Sooyoung’s on her shoulder, their fingers intertwining.

Sooyoung looked over to Jungeun with an eyebrow raised in intrigue. “Trying to one up your best friend’s natural alignment to water, Jungeun? Good stuff.”

“That was definitely nothing compared to Jiwoo,” Jungeun declared with crossed arms, “but yeah, she's been helping me practice with it recently. I haven’t checked with Jaden, but I think she's help me get to level five affinity with it."

“Well, that explains that,” Hyunjin said with a roll of her eyes before jokingly whining. “You’re totally breaking our agreement! Natural elements only!”

“I don’t remember shaking on that one,” Jungeun remarked with a shrug. “Good fight, though. You almost had me.”

“I mean, I _did_ have you, but then you cheated with Jiwoo’s help, so—”

“Oh, for God’s sake, just shut up and take the compliment, Hyunjin,” Jungeun openly complained while turning around. The others laughed as she walked off, raising a hand to wave to them. “I’ve gotta get to bed. You kids keep me up too damn late.”

“Well, you must be starving after that,” Sooyoung said towards Hyunjin as Jungeun disappeared behind the door to the stairwell. “Wanna get some food?”

“The bakery’s still open this late, right?” Hyunjin pondered, her head resting on Sooyoung’s chest. “Let’s head there.”

“You and your bread,” Sooyoung said with a roll of her eyes. As her partner nuzzled her head into her chest, Sooyoung looked to the remaining girls. “Anyone wanna come with?”

“Kahei, can we go?” an excited Yerim turned to her older sister. “It’s not too late, is it?”

“No, it should be fine,” Kahei confirmed, much to the excitement of Yerim. Her eyes found their way to the pair of light of dark and the magus of wind. “Would you three like to come along?”

Yeojin answered first. “I think I’m good for now. Kinda wanna settle into my room and maybe turn in early myself. It’s...kind of been a long day.”

Yeojin’s weak smile was met with understanding nods from the group, especially Sooyoung and Kahei. In the excitement of learning about the elemental wheel and the finer aspects of combat from the action-packed duel, Yeojin had nearly forgotten…

The inexperienced magus spoke up again, regaining her composure. “Thanks, though.”

“Chaewon, can we go back to my room…?”

Hyejoo’s voice came next. The girl yawned cutely. “I’m a little sleepy…”

“Sure. Let’s head back,” Chaewon said with a nod, looking to the others. “We’ll see you all around, then. Yeojin, would you like me to lead you to your dorm room?”

Yeojin’s attention was summoned to the blonde haired girl while waving goodbye to the sisters and romantic partners who had departed for the stairwell. “Huh? Oh, yeah. That’d be cool, thanks.”

With Hyejoo in hand, Chaewon lead the two girls back to the elevator and summoned it. Yeojin gazed upon the empty arena as she entered it, the pristine condition of the floor making it look like the battle never even happened. Her mind idly wandered as the elevator shut closed, lifting the three magi upwards.

_Duels and weak points, huh…?_

A short interval of time passed before the elevator opened. Yeojin stepped out with Chaewon and Hyejoo, finding herself in a small common area. Furniture was spread about, and there was a television with some game systems. At one end of it, the entrance of a long hallway stood.

“Right this way,” Chaewon politely showed Yeojin forwards, bringing the girl into the hallway. Down the length of the hall, closed doors were lined, alternating between the left and right walls. Yeojin inspected them as she walked past. The first read Heejin. The next Hyunjin, and the proceeding one Haseul.

Chaewon came to a stop in front of the fourth. Yeojin nearly crashed into her as she paused her stride, her eyes seeing her own name on the door.

“This is your room,” Chaewon said with a smile.

Yeojin blinked. “I don’t...have a key.”

With a laugh, Chaewon brought her hand to the door and gently opened it. “It’ll be inside.”

Yeojin was flushed with slight embarrassment as she nodded. “Yeah, should’ve expected that, I guess.”

“Where are you guys?” Yeojin inquired as she started to step inside, solely out of curiosity.

“My room is the second to last, and Hyejoo’s is the final one,” Chaewon revealed with a nod. “If you need anything, please feel free to knock on Hyejoo’s door. That’s where we’ll both be.”

“Okay, cool,” Yeojin said with a smile. “Sounds good. Thanks, guys.”

Chaewon returned the smile, as did Hyejoo, albeit less in scale. Yeojin still felt it entirely genuine, however, causing her own smile to widen as they walked off.

Closing the door behind her, Yeojin was met with amenities far beyond her imaginations.

Her dorm room was a sprawling space, complete with a small kitchen and living room. Pre-furnished, she had a kitchen table and seats entirely prepared for any potential guests. A large couch was situated in front of a sizable wall-mounted television. Approaching the fridge, the girl’s surprise doubled as she found it already fully stocked with various food and drink.

“Jaden, what the hell, dude?” the young magus said to herself with a smile of astonishment. “We just met…”

Exploring her quarters further, Yeojin then discovered she was the owner of a full sized bathroom, complete with both a tub and a standing shower. She held her head in disbelief as she took in the sight after turning on the light. Wordlessly, she simply shut the lights off and closed the door behind her to explore the rest of the space.

At the end of a hallway, there were two doors opposite to each other. Picking one at random, Yeojin strolled into a room similar in design to the arena. It was a wide open space with nothing present and equally empty walls. The only things to see were runic circles scrawled all over the room.

“A playground to mess around in, huh?” Yeojin mused as her odd eye briefly came alive with jade green. A sphere of wind forming, she launched it forward and nodded to herself as a barrier flashed into existence on its contact with the floor. “Pretty cool.”

Exiting the room, Yeojin entered the only remaining one. She was met with a luxurious bedroom, equipped with a terribly expensive looking king sized bed. Much like Jaden’s office, the entirety of one of the walls was a window. Yeojin was blessed to be on the side of the building facing Mobius, allowing her to marvel at the impressive city and the looping leyline above it.

The corner of the room was fitted with a large desk and chair, and with it, two monitors hooked up to an extremely capable looking computer. At the wall opposite of the bed, she found herself in possession of yet another wall-mounted television, stationed high near the ceiling. The dresser below it had various game systems organized at the top, wireless controllers ready.

With continued silent amazement, Yeojin inspected the only thing left to examine. A door in one corner of the room lead into a fairly sizable walk-in closet. Turning the light on, Yeojin found herself surrounded by all sorts of clothing, shoes, and accessories. Walking up to one of the garments, she felt its fabric as her mind burned with a question.

Yeojin found her answer as runes on the clothes came to life, shining gently in response to her touch. She examined a few more and was met with the same reaction. Yeojin processed the sight as she stepped back.

“Least I won’t get messed up by another passenger with these now,” she assured herself as she stepped out of the closet. She caught her mistake, shaking her head. “Fiend, right...they’re fiends.”

Only one stone was left unturned. Yeojin had missed it when she first walked into her bedroom. A lavish looking note card was set upon the mattress. Picking it up, she read it over, struggling just a little bit to make sense of the ornate, fancy handwriting.

 **_For those who did no harm and lost everything for it._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Welcome home._ ** **_  
_ ** ****_-Jaden_

A warmth radiated within Yeojin as she read the note from the archmagus. It soothed her from the inside as she shook her head with a smile.

“You’re something else, man…”

With respect, Yeojin walked over to her computer desk and placed the card down neatly. She eyed the computer and the television, but after a moment of consideration, she found herself simply falling forwards onto her bed instead.

Rolling over onto her back, she laid spread out on the middle of it with plenty room to spare all around her. She started at the spinning fan above her, her eyes focusing on just a single one of the twelve blades as it made laps in circles.

For as much as there was to think about, there was an equal desire to hold off on contemplating those things in her mind. The day’s events had gone far beyond what she was sure to be just another round of scavenging when she woke up in her timeline that morning. There was a lot of process, but not enough energy to process it.

The only thought on her mind was how she on a proper, comfortable bed for the first time in several years. Sinking into the plush mattress, sleep consumed her thoughts.

“Since I’ll be lucky enough to even see tomorrow…”

She grabbed a pillow above her. She settled her head into it, turning over on her side.

“...let’s just think about all of it in the morning…”

A content smile was on her face as she fell into a deep slumber. Beyond the relaxed contentedness, however, existed much more passionate emotions. Things that began to truly take form in her heart and soul at that moment, driven by the opportunity she had been so generously gifted to keep on living.

Pure, undying appreciation for the sorceresses who saved her life.

Profound respect for the archmagus who went to such extreme measures out of nothing but the kindness of his own heart, expecting nothing in return.

The drive to become the embodiment of a heroine as a sorceress in LOONA—the fervent ignition of her motivation to save others just as she had been saved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading! i hope you found it enjoyable. for any questions or comments outside of AO3;  
> —https://twitter.com/Helseivich  
> —https://curiouscat.me/Helseivich


	5. 「 episode 5; arc 3.1 」 —tenebrous awakening//subdued resurgence— 「 hyejoo i 」

**「** **episode 5; arc 3.1** **」 —tenebrous awakening//subdued resurgence— 「** **hyejoo i** **」**

“Ah, there they are. That’s everyone, then.”

Hyejoo closed the door behind her as she entered the room, her other hand intertwined with Chaewon’s in front of her.

She was in a small classroom, one she had been spending a lot of time in recently. With Chaewon leading her, they found two empty desks near the middle of the room. Chaewon waited patiently with a smile on her face as Hyejoo retrieved the chair from the second desk and slid it next to the first.

Smiles were aimed at them from the rest of the classroom’s inhabitants as the two sat down next to one another. Their eyes found their way to Jaden at the front of the classroom. He was sitting on the edge of a desk in front of a white marker board behind him. He gave the girls in the room a warm smile.

“I hope everyone’s doing well this morning,” Jaden said kindly as he scanned the room. “It’s been two weeks since we’ve rescued Yeojin and formally inducted her into LOONA, along with Hyejoo and Yerim. As you all have been training, they’ve been through their basic studies and have showcased ample levels of proficiency for Neophyte sorceresses. We’re now ready to begin optimal excursions.”

“With that in mind, I’ll be revealing to you the teams of four we’ll be working in,” he explained, getting off the desk and making his way to the board behind him. Rolling up the sleeves of his buttoned up white dress shirt, he grabbed a marker from its bottom ledge and began to write.

Watching intently, Hyejoo could feel every individual beat of her heart trying to break out of her chest as Jaden wrote across the board.

_I need to be with her…_

A dark shroud of anxiety enveloped her mind.

_I can’t...do this without her..._

“Hyejoo.”

A voice rang gently in Hyejoo’s ears—the voice that erased her darkness and restored her peace of mind. Looking next to her, she was met with the relaxing comfort of Chaewon’s smile. “Breathe, Hyejoo. Just breathe. Everything will be alright.”

It vanished.

Every ounce of growing worry and every speck of doubt in her mind...it simply vanished when Chaewon smiled at her like that.

Hyejoo nodded to Chaewon with appreciation far beyond what her small smile conveyed. Her eyes scanned the area with curiously as Jaden continued to write the names down one by one. Sooyoung and Hyunjin seemed particularly happy in the corner of the room, Hyunjin seated in Sooyoung’s lap with a smile on her face and her head nuzzled into Sooyoung’s neck.

“Please, please, please, please…!”

A somewhat deep voice sounded itself off in the room. Hyejoo looked over to see a girl with wavy ebony locks chanting pleadingly. The taller blonde whose lap she was seated in had her arms wrapped around the smaller girl’s waist. The blonde girl shook her companion lightly, both of them giggling cutely. Jaden looked back to them for a moment, pausing with a smile.

“Please, Jaden! Pretty please!”

“Heejin, you _are_ aware that I’m not making these up on the spot, correct?” he asked the excitable girl. “These formations were finalized a day or two ago.”

“Archmagus Jeong wouldn’t do us dirty like that, Heekie,” the blonde girl lovingly embracing Heejin stated, looking at the archmagus with a challenging grin. “He knows I’ll beat him up!”

“Jinsol, as much as I want to see Jaden destroy you in a duel, just shut up and let the man write,” an exasperated Jungeun begged with a roll of her eyes. A round of laughs came from the class as Jaden turned back to the board with an amused chuckle. As he continued writing, Heejin and Jinsol suddenly shrieked with joy.

“I told you, Heekie! He’d would never mess with the cutest couple in this building!” Jinsol proclaimed.

“I think I’m gonna puke,” Jungeun teased with a shake of her head. Receiving a light kick in the shin from Jinsol next to her, the gray haired girl kicked back. Heejin giggled as their battle ensued.

When he finished writing the last two names, Hyejoo was met with immeasurable relief. A peaceful expression settled itself onto her face as Chaewon squeezed her hand, looking to her with a smile. “See, Hyejoo? Everything’s alright.”

Hyejoo nodded to her companion with returned emotion.

_Thank goodness…_

“Here are your teams, then.”

Jaden stepped away from the board, allowing the sorceresses to take in his neat handwriting in full.

 **TEAM ONE:** **  
****SOOYOUNG [TANK] // HYUNJIN [DPS] // JIWOO [DPS, HEALER] // YEOJIN [HEALER]** **  
****「** Ranking: Master // Intermediate // Adept // Neophyte **」** **  
****「** Natural Alignments: Ice // Earth // Water // Air **」** **  
****「** Weaknesses: Air // Electricity // Air // Ice **」** **  
****  
****TEAM TWO:** **  
****HEEJIN [TANK] // JINSOL [DPS] // YERIM [DPS] // HASEUL [HEALER]** **  
****「** Ranking: Intermediate // Adept // Neophyte // Master **」** **  
****「** Natural Alignments: Electricity // Electricity // Fire // Air **」**  
**「** Weaknesses: Earth // Darkness // Earth // Water **」** **  
****  
****TEAM THREE:** **  
****JUNGEUN [TANK] // KAHEI [DPS] // HYEJOO [DPS] // CHAEWON [HEALER]** **  
****「** Ranking: Adept // Master // Neophyte // Intermediate **」** **  
****「** Natural Alignments: Fire // Earth // Darkness // Light **」**  
**「** Weaknesses: Light // Fire // Water // Fire **」**

As everyone absorbed the information, Hyejoo saw a slightly melancholic smile in the corner of her eyes.

It belonged to a girl with bright red hair sitting next to Haseul. Haseul’s hand was on top of her lap, and her own hand was on top of Haseul’s. With heterochromatic eyes of a vivid ocean blue and dark gray, she shared in giving Jaden an understanding nod with Haseul. He nodded back with his own matching solemnity.

“It was to be expected,” the redheaded girl said with a small sigh, looking to Haseul. “A Neophyte healer can’t possibly carry four lives on her own. My abilities as a hybrid simply make sense being paired with her...”

“It’s alright, Jiwoo,” Haseul comforted her with a smile. “We’ll have days off. We can spend plenty of time together still.”

As the two came closer to one another with Jiwoo resting her head onto Haseul’s shoulder, Hyejoo witnessed Jungeun staring at Jiwoo with almost downcast eyes. In a similar vein, Kahei, seated next to Jungeun, appeared wistful with her glance strangely glued to Jinsol as she held Heejin close to her. Though she hadn’t known them for very long, Hyejoo had never seen neither Jungeun nor Kahei look at anyone in such a manner.

Before she could ponder it any further, Jaden’s voice summoned everyone’s attention.

“One Neophyte, one Intermediate, one Adept, and one Master.”

He had come back around to the front of the desk, leaning on its edge again. He glanced over the girls as he spoke further.

“That was the basic guideline I set out to meet before anything else. With a team member at every rank, three of you will have someone to compare yourselves to in regards to your next level of advancement. The Master sorceress will then act as your team’s primary cornerstone. For this reason, please consider your Master sorceress as your team leader.”

“Jaden, I’ve got a question.”

Glances were directed towards a brown haired girl with a raised hand and curiosity set into her eyes. Jaden addressed with her a nod. “Yes, Yeojin?”

“Actually, I guess it’s more of a question for Heejin and Jinsol,” the Neophyte of wind asked with a tilt of her head as she lowered her hand. She looked to the embracing couple across the room. “Do you guys have opposite directional biases?”

“Yep! I’m clockwise and she’s counterclockwise!” Heejin answered with a bright smile.

Yeojin nodded in response as she looked back to Jaden. “Alright, that explains that. I was just wondering why you’d put two of the same element in the same group, but with opposite directional biases, they cover different secondary elements, so it doesn’t seem like it’d be really detrimental or anything.”

“Not to mention that electricity is a very well-rounded element with the only major caveat being a lack of healing potential,” another voice continued. Eyes settled onto the violet haired Yerim, her bright smile aimed towards Jaden.

“Their healer is the leader and the highest leveled in the group, too,” Hyejoo found herself speaking up as she thought on it, bringing attention to herself as she looked to Haseul. “Heejin and Jinsol not being able to heal isn’t so bad when their healer is the most experienced healer out of them all...”

“I see the Neophytes truly have been studying hard,” Jaden surmised with a proud nod. “Yes, though the repeat of elements may not make it seem as such, the second team is as balanced as the others. Haseul’s experience as a Master is indeed nothing to scoff at.”

“I am a little concerned about each team sharing an elemental weak point between two members, but in the long run, it shouldn’t pose that much of an issue,” the archmagus stated with another brief look to the board. “With groups of four, so long as you stick together, you can cover each other’s backs.”

“We’re heading out then, yeah?”

Sooyoung spoke up from her shared seat with Hyunjin in the corner of the room. She idly twirled locks of Hyunjin’s hair in her fingers as her eye of bright cyan peered at Jaden with a sort of impatience imbued into it. “Training and book smarts are all well and good, Archmagus Jeong, but the Neophytes are probably due for some proper field experience at this point, don’t you think?”

“Worry not, Sooyoung. You’ll be leaving within the hour.”

A smile quickly manifested on Sooyoung’s face. The rest of the room quickly followed, light chatter breaking out as an excited mood draped the room. Jaden smiled warmly as he spoke again. “It’s comforting to know how eager you’ve all been to resume your work. Rest assured, today’s meeting was for that sole purpose. In an hour, you’ll be convening with your teams in the laboratory. Gateway crystals to corrupted universes have been prepared.”

“Please keep in the mind the process of appropriating alternate realities as well,” the archmagus informed, quieting the classroom down. “Give your expedition at least half a day if you’re able. If you learn that a search for magi would be futile or if circumstances are helplessly dire, please do not hesitate to return here posthaste. Your safety is priority.

“That should wrap things up here,” Jaden announced, standing up off the edge of the desk. He made way for the door, holding it open for the sorceresses. “You can bring along whatever you deem necessary, but I would suggest packing light. Food and water take priority. Please also remember that your phones will be unavailable for use, so stay together as best as you’re able.”

A cacophony of chairs simultaneously scraping against tile made itself audible as the girls rose from their seats. Jaden’s eyes found four of them as he suddenly spoke up again. “Team three—Jungeun, Kahei, Hyejoo, Chaewon. If you could stay for a moment extra, I need to speak with you in private.”

An odd mood fell about the room as Jaden made his request. Strides slowed down as gazes settled upon the four in question. Kahei nodded to the rest of her comrades with a smile, silently insisting that they had nothing to worry about.

Hyejoo felt her stomach turn slightly as the room emptied. She was left standing close to Chaewon, their hands still interlocked. Near the center of the room, Kahei stood calmly. Jungeun was at the window, peering out to Mobius on the horizon. As the door closed, Jungeun spoke up before Jaden could.

“Hold on, Jaden.”

The woman of fire fell back into silence as she turned around, peering at the door. Walking up to it slowly, she grabbed the handle and pushed it open forwards with light force.

“Ow!”

She had swung the door into the face of a woman too inquisitive for her own good. Jinsol’s face flushed with embarrassment as she backed away towards a smiling Heejin slowly. Jaden looked to the pair of electric sorceresses with a serious look in his eyes. “If you wouldn’t mind, girls, this is a private matter.”

Nervously, Jinsol nodded, her expression brimming over with regret as she bowed slightly. Heejin’s expression equally straightened out with haste. “S-sorry, Archmagus Jeong...”

“You don’t need to apologize, as it is clear that you’re worried about your allies,” Jaden replied with an understanding nod as a smile took shape on his face, “but what I need to speak with them about concerns only their team. I assure you that everything is fine.”

“Let’s go, Jindori,” Heejin spoke up sweetly, walking forward and hugging one of Jinsol’s arm tightly. “We have to get ready!”

Jungeun gave Jinsol a smile more genuine than the blonde had expected as she apologized again while being dragged off. “Sorry, Jungeun!”

“He just told you that you didn’t need to apologize!” Jungeun called out down the hall, shaking her head. “Jeez, that girl sometimes…”

Closing the door, Jungeun turned around and walked into the room again. She took a seat at the edge of the closest desk, joining her teammates in giving Jaden her attention. “What’s going on, Jaden?”

“There was just a critical piece of information regarding your team that I did not wish to divulge to the entirety of LOONA,” the archmagus explained. As his eyes settled onto Hyejoo, the others followed. The girl of darkness looked down slightly, her violet odd eye staring at the floor sullenly.

“The information I withheld from the others stems from what I learned when I ran the alignment and affinity test for the Neophytes. Hyejoo’s weak point of water is only one of four,” he revealed to Jungeun and Kahei as he looked back to the board briefly. “Her affinities with air, ice, and light are also at level one. To offset this, her affinity with darkness stands at level sixteen.”

Hyejoo shuddered uncomfortably upon hearing the information again, her mind recalling the sight of the malevolent sphere of shadows that Jaden had to imprison. Speechless, Jungeun and Kahei looked at her silently as they processed the information.

After a moment, Jaden continued. “A great deal of caution must be exercised in making sure Hyejoo does not fall victim to attacks against her several weak points. To that end, Jungeun, Kahei...I believe the two of you to be the most capable. You both bear some of the most peerlessly analytical minds in LOONA. Your capability for problem solving and handling troublesome situations will be crucial.”

The two sorceresses nodded slowly as Jaden looked to Chaewon. “Meanwhile, Chaewon’s prowess as a healer will equally serve as a backbone. She has been astonishingly blessed with a counterclockwise alignment to light. This, in tandem with her studies and training, has bestowed her with a level eight affinity in light and level seven affinities in air and water. What Haseul may have over her in experience, Chaewon makes up for with uncontested healing potential.

“The most pressing matter, however, is the constant upkeep of the link between Chaewon and Hyejoo.”

Hyejoo squeezed Chaewon’s hand as she brought her head up to look at Jaden. He was peering straight at her, giving her a solemn look of understanding. He turned his gaze to Chaewon. “How has the purification been going, Chaewon?”

“It’s been progressing steadily,” Chaewon announced. Kahei pushed up her glasses as she shared in shifting her eyes towards the blonde haired girl with Jungeun. “There’s still a sizable amount of corruption flowing within Hyejoo’s manastream, but with every day we’re able to spend together, I’ve been able to extract it bit by bit. It might be a few weeks yet, or potentially longer...but full purification can be reached.”

“I’m relieved to hear it,” the archmagus responded with a smile before looking to the women of fire and earth. “Jungeun, Kahei, this will be the secondary stipulation with your team. Aside from covering Hyejoo’s weak points, she and Chaewon must ideally remain at least somewhat close at all times. Chaewon’s purification of Hyejoo’s manastream depends on it.”

“So that’s how you’ve been handling it, then…”

An audible murmur from Kahei followed Jaden’s voice. She nodded to herself as she looked to Chaewon. “A gradual drainage of tainted mana through a physical link...when corruption is that severe, that is indeed the safest way to go about it, even if the slowest. I’m assuming that you’ll be tethering to Hyejoo during combat, then? I imagine Hyejoo might have difficulty using her weapon single-handed, not to mention our general formation…”

“Yes, that was my plan,” Chaewon confirmed. “So long as an encounter against fiends doesn’t take too long, we can replace our physical contact with a bridge of my mana. It shouldn’t affect my stamina much, and I won’t fall victim to mana deprivation. As long as the purification doesn’t stop for too long, Hyejoo’s manastream won’t relapse into full corruption.”

“It could end up being a little problematic at times, but we’ll make it work,” Jungeun said with a confident smile as she looked to her teammates. Her eyes found Hyejoo’s and she gave the girl a nod. “If you’re gonna be staying close to her, you’ll sometimes find yourself in a better position to defend her than we can. It’ll be up to you to protect her in those situations...but I can tell you’ve got her back, right?”

“Yes, I do.”

Hyejoo’s response was immediate. Her eyes had quickly shot up to meet Jungeun’s. “I’ll protect her no matter what.”

“Then I think we’ll manage just fine,” Jungeun responded with confidence. Her eyes met Kahei’s as she smiled. “Besides, even if Chaewon’s preoccupied, you’ve got a level seven affinity in water and air, don’t you, Kahei? We basically have two healers...can’t say I’m too concerned.”

“That’s correct. Everything will be fine, Archmagus Jeong,” Kahei assured the older sorcerer. “We won’t let you down.”

“Thank you,” Jaden replied simply, smiling at the four. “I won’t hold you any longer, then. Please prepare yourselves accordingly.”

Dismissed, the four made way for the door and left Jaden as he wiped the board of his writing. Chaewon addressed Kahei and Jungeun as Hyejoo closed the door behind them. “We’ll grab our things from Hyejoo’s room. See you in an hour?”

“Yeah, sounds good,” Jungeun affirmed.

“I would suggest bringing a change of clothes for Hyejoo,” Kahei mentioned, bringing their glances towards her. “With four weak points, we should be prepared for the possibility for her barrier runes breaking.”

“Yes, I was considering doing so,” Chaewon agreed with a nod. “We’ll arrange an extra pair then. See you then.”

The group departed, leaving in two pairs down different ends of the hall. Hyejoo remained quiet, her hand locked with Chaewon’s as they made their way back to her room.

 **「** **➤➤➤** **★** **➤➤➤** **」**

“Chaewon...can we practice?”

Hyejoo’s small voice addressed her companion as they entered her dorm room. Chaewon turned to face her, realizing that Hyejoo wasn’t right next to her—their conjoined hands were stretched out, creating a lengthy bridge between them. Chaewon fell silent for a moment before nodding slowly.

“That’s a good idea, Hyejoo. It has been a while since we’ve made use of the actual mana tether, hasn’t it?” the girl of light lamented, her eyes falling to their hands. “We’re going to be making much more frequent use of it from now on. Let’s give it a shot, then.”

Silently, Hyejoo nodded. Chaewon lead her towards the center of the living room. Hyejoo’s eyes focused on her intertwined hands with Chaewon.

Gradually, Chaewon began to pull away from her. With every inch further their fingers became undone, it clawed its way through Hyejoo’s mind.

**Her presence is fading...**

Hyejoo’s breathing quickened. Her heartbeat accelerated.

**...and with it, your light.**

For the first time in nearly two months, she felt it swell inside of her. It raged vehemently.

**Your sense of self hangs in the balance.**

Further still, Chaewon’s hand continued to depart from hers. Further still, the voice emerged from the deepest reaches of her subconscious. She had almost forgotten what it sounded like.

**You know that no harm must come to her. She is the physical manifestation of your will to live.**

Chaewon’s hand broke free of Hyejoo’s grasp. As it did, Hyejoo’s odd eye of dark lavender briefly came to life.

**She is lost. You have failed.**

The violet iris took over, a sea of purple washing over her pupil and sclera.

**You are alone once more.**

A series of tremors began to ravage Hyejoo’s head as she gasped lightly.

**Without an anchor for your cursed existence, you live without reason.**

The pain.

**History repeats itself. Such is the cycle your soul is subject to experience.**

The _pain._

**The truth may be difficult to accept...**

With Chaewon fully disconnected from her—

**...but I am all you will ever have.**

—it rushed forward from the darkest depths of her mind in an agonizing wave.

**Seek comfort in my embrace, child, or watch your loved ones be flooded by shadow.**

**Submit to me and your own darkness as you did before.**

The darkness within her. The unbridled wrath. All of the screams she had screamed years ago. The demonic looks in their eyes as they threw her in. The tears as she drowned in it. Suffocated in it. The feeling of crossing the border between life and death. The sight of their motionless bodies afterwards.

**Become one with me.**

**Become Olivia Hye, lest you wish...**

“Hyejoo...”

**...to drown...all you know...in your own sorrow...**

“Hyejoo.”

Resplendent warmth.

Chaewon’s voice came with a simultaneous pulse of light from her body. Hyejoo looked up, collecting her breath as she saw it. The one who saved her before was saving her once again, as she always did.

The girl of light’s body was illuminated with a soft glow. From the center of her chest, a thin stream of beige mana flowed outwards, connecting to Hyejoo. As it did, everything...vanished.

Just like before. Just like every single time. It simply vanished. The pain in her heart, the repressed memories in her mind. Her odd eye returned to its natural violet state. She regained her breathing as her own body began to radiate a similar light.

“How do you feel?” Chaewon asked, giving Hyejoo a smile.

“I’m...I’m okay,” Hyejoo confirmed, her breathing becoming steady once more. “How about you…?”

“You don’t need to worry about me,” Chaewon confirmed, her smile widening. “Like I said before, so long as I don’t have to maintain this tether for an extended period of time, I won’t fall ill to any side effects. We can hold hands outside of combat like we always do, okay?”

Hyejoo remained silent as she nodded. She felt her face redden slightly.

Chaewon stared into Hyejoo’s eyes in deep contemplation for a moment, deliberating her following question. After a moment, she spoke up to ask it. “Did you hear her again?”

“Yes…” Hyejoo slowly confirmed after a pause. “I could still hear her...Olivia…”

“I see…there’s still enough corruption present within you for her to take form in your subconscious, then,” Chaewon surmised. “I was hoping I had purified enough by now…”

Chaewon took a step forward. “Okay, Hyejoo. Would you like to—”

“I _do_ want to hold your hand, Chaewon, but let’s stay like this for just a few more minutes,” Hyejoo suddenly asserted, surprising her tethered companion. “Battles against fiends are gonna take us longer than this, right? I want to be prepared. I need to get used to this if I’m going to protect you…”

Slowly, Chaewon nodded and stepped back again. “I understand, Hyejoo. Thank you. Shall we start getting our things together, then?”

The two made way into Hyejoo’s bedroom, Hyejoo keeping her distance. Unseen to Chaewon ahead of her, Hyejoo’s eyes were entirely focused on the hand she had grown accustomed to holding. While Chaewon’s purification tether was doing than enough to keep her darkness at bay, Hyejoo was beginning to realize something.

Her previous statement had more truth behind it than she had let on. More than ever before, Hyejoo wanted nothing more than to simply hold Chaewon’s hand.

Beyond the warmth she felt from her whenever their fingers were intertwined, beyond the physical purification allowing Chaewon to rest easy with no extra effort...Hyejoo was coming to understand that she was now wanting to hold Chaewon’s hand...just because.

Above keeping her safe, to be physically connected to the girl who had pulled her out of her darkness was the one thing Hyejoo desired most.

The more she thought about it as they stood near one another in Hyejoo’s closet, finding spare clothes for her...the more beats of her heart she felt herself skip over.

 **「** **➤➤➤** **★** **➤➤➤** **」**

“Why didn’t you guys bring this stuff when you rescued me? You holding out on me?”

“Oh, calm down, kid. That was kind of a rush job…”

Hyejoo heard banter between Yeojin and Sooyoung as she entered the room, hand-in-hand with Chaewon. Behind them, Kahei and Jungeun followed. The other eight sorceresses of LOONA looked to the final team with smiles as they approached the circular formation of computers and hanging screens by the center of the laboratory. Everyone was equipped with a small, lightweight bag of sorts, mostly drawstring backpacks.

At the other end of the lab, Jaden stood by a researcher in a white coat. He was handed a small box, after which he turned around and approached the twelve girls. They surrounded his front as he opened it for them, revealing six small crystals—three dark gray, and three light gray.

“Here are your gateway crystals,” Jaden informed them, extending the box forwards slightly. “Leaders, please take a pair each.”

Sooyoung, Haseul, and Kahei reached forward, grabbing one of each. Jaden closed the box and set it down before looking back to them all. “Your preparations are all complete?”

A round of nods from the girls was met with an equivalent nod from Jaden. “Very well, then. You may depart. Safe travels, and thank you for your efforts. I’ll see you all soon.”

Sooyoung’s odd eye emitted a soft cyan glow as her icy mana surrounded the three dark gray crystals in each of the leaders’ hands. As it coalesced and covered each one in frost, the three of them simultaneously made fists around them and crushed them. The source mana of their destination universes escaped from their prisons, and in an instant, took the form of door frames.

Coalescing into doors of a matching color, they were blank and without name plates. Hyejoo stared at her team’s door as she squeezed Chaewon’s hand. Chaewon immediately reciprocated.

“Time’s wasting. Let’s get going.”

Sooyoung’s voice broke the beginning of silence before it settled in. Without hesitation, she opened her team’s door, briefly flooding the room with light. Hyunjin entered first, followed by Yeojin. Jiwoo approached it, but not before turning to face someone—Haseul. She gave the sorceress of wind a smile and a nod before stepping through.

Hyejoo noticed Jungeun was turned away, her eyes idly wandering the lab as if she was trying to avoid the sight. Her eyes coming to Kahei next, Hyejoo saw the woman of earth once again fixated on Jinsol.

Before Sooyoung stepped through, her eyes found Yerim and Hyejoo in specific as she spoke up, summoning their attention. “Neophytes. Listen to your leaders, alright? We’re not Masters for nothing. Trust us.”

Without waiting for a response, she stepped through the door and closed it behind her. As it clicked shut, it began to dissipate, fading away into dark gray dust. Haseul approached her door next, opening it for her teammates behind her. As the burst of light from within started to fade, Heejin and Jinsol walked through together with held hands. Yerim followed, briefly stopping to quickly bow towards everyone.

Her team having gone through, Haseul gave the remaining four an encouraging smile. “Do your best.”

Closing the door behind her, the four sorceresses watched it vanish into nothing with Jaden. Kahei spoke up, looking towards her team with a smile. “Shall we?”

“Let’s bring ‘em home.”

Jungeun’s response came with a smile of confidence as she turned back around. Kahei approached the door, opening it for her allies behind her. A third flash of light broke free from it as Jungeun walked in first, waving towards Jaden. Chaewon and Hyejoo followed, and Kahei behind them after giving Jaden a nod.

Jaden took a deep breath as he watched the final door dematerialize. “May you all come back home safely.”

As he made way towards the main entrance of the laboratory, a ringing noise began to spill out from the inside of one of his pockets. Pulling out his phone, he answered it with a smile upon seeing the name of the incoming caller.

“Hello, Sunmi. Ah, yes, excuse me. _Grandmaster_ Sunmi. My apologies. Are you en route?”

 **「** **➤➤➤** **★** **➤➤➤** **」**

When the door closed behind them, Hyejoo found herself in complete darkness. Her hold on Chaewon’s hand tightened, and she felt unease and worry disappear from her mind when Chaewon returned the action.

“Everyone alright?” Jungeun asked, her voice coming up from further ahead. She was answered with three voices of confirmation, inciting a hidden nod from her in the darkness. “I’ll get a light going.”

With a light breath, crimson mana veiled by the cover of darkness took form in front of Jungeun. A moment later, it coalesced into a floating sphere of flame, illuminating the immediate area. It moved with Jungeun as she turned around, looking towards her teammates and surroundings. “Where the hell are we?”

“It appears to be a supply closet of some sort,” Kahei commented, walking over to some brooms and mops hung up on the wall. “Though that does little to answer where we _actually_ are…”

“Only one way to find out, then,” Jungeun declared, turning back around. Her eyes focused on a wooden door at the end of the room. She addressed the group while approaching it. “Stay calm. No clue what we’re walking into.”

Hyejoo remained close to Chaewon next to her as they approached. Kahei followed behind, and with the four assembled, Jungeun opened the door outwards.

Cautiously, the team walked out, finding themselves on the upper levels of a building. Coming up to the rails of the walkways they were stood upon, they peered down and were met the sight of a grand floor below. Long wooden benches were neatly assembled down each side of the area. Looking up, Hyejoo saw an array of vaulted ceilings above them, decorated with stained glass.

“It’s a church,” she informed the group, bringing them to the same realization as they looked up and saw the artwork themselves.

“It appears to be night outside,” Kahei made note of, the church floor beneath them being illuminated mostly by moonlight through the stained glass. “That may prove disorienting. We’ll have to keep track of time...”

“Can’t say I’ve been dropped off in a church before,” Jungeun remarked, her eyes still scanning the area. “Looks cleared out though. Least we didn’t make a scene coming in. Let’s get down and head outsi—”

An ear-piercing noise of doors being slammed open interrupted Jungeun. It was immediately followed by a woman’s shout.

“Seulgi, in here!”

The sorceresses’ eyes widened as they looked down and witnessed a figure burst into the scene. A woman just short of Kahei’s height had run into the cathedral. With a tight grip on a handaxe in her hand, she was dressed in all black, decorated with a long sleeve dress shirt and dark denim. Her boots screeched to a stop as she turned around.

Proceeding after her was a woman marginally taller, similarly dressed in a matching tee shirt and jeans of ebony. In her right hand, she held a single-edged serrated hunting knife. It was almost long enough to be called a shortsword.

Storming in after them, they came.

“Come on!”

Jungeun’s response to the wave of plastic fiends was immediate. The mannequins rushed in one after the other—at least a dozen in total, they quickly approached the two fleeing girls. Without thought, Jungeun’s halberd quickly materialized in her hand as she dropped her drawstring bag and vaulted over the railing of the walkway. Simultaneously, Kahei’s staff had come into existence a moment prior, and with it, the rumbling of the earth below.

The foundation of the church below began to give way as a series of stone towers rose like stairs near the upper floor walkway, allowing the other three safe passage down. Kahei turned to Chaewon and Hyejoo with a nod as the three of them set their belongings down next to Jungeun’s. “Let’s go.”

The three of them quickly made their way down, jumping from pillar to pillar and reuniting with Jungeun. The two figures in black were slowly approaching the back wall, weapons at the ready as their eyes anxiously jumped between the fiends, the pillars of earth, and the sorceresses assembling in front of them.

“Who are you?!” the woman with the handaxe called out in confusion as she and her companion found four bodies now lined up in front of her.

“We’re here to help,” Kahei said softly, facing the mannequins in front of them. The collected swarm of them had transitioned from focused dashes to watchful surveillance of the new presence in front of them, their bodies twitching and convulsing uncontrollably.

“Joohyun, it’s alright,” the knife-wielding woman said with a slow nod, stepping forward.

“Seulgi, wait!”

Seulgi turned back towards Joohyun, looking at her with mixed eyes of dark brown and a bright gold. Joohyun’s gaze of crimson red and light brown met her back in full. “We can trust them, Joohyun. They’re thaumaturges like us. Hell, for all we know, they might even be better at thaumaturgy than we are!”

Slowly, Joohyun approached with Seulgi. The two stood behind the four sorceresses. Seulgi spoke up with a smile as Jungeun’s eyes scanned the mess of fiends. “We owe you guys one.”

“Don’t thank us yet,” Jungeun dismissed with a light smirk, shaking her head. “These things are still alive and well. Need to take care of that first before you go and say something like that.”

The woman of fire flipped her halberd over, the tip of the spear pointing towards the ground. “Guess I’ve got no choice but to draw them all at once. They don’t look particularly strong, but it might get a little crazy having twelve on me...”

“You guys do that, too? We can split them up, then,” Seulgi spoke, looking towards half of the fiends. “I’ll get the attention of half of them. You get the other half.”

“Oh? I like the sound of this already,” Jungeun said with a smirk towards Seulgi. “Kahei, Chaewon. Two tanks, alright?”

“Understood,” Kahei responded with a nod, her eye alight with life and resonating with the crystal within her staff. “Everyone, be on guard. Chaewon and Hyejoo, please ready yourselves.”

“It’s time, Hyejoo.”

Hyejoo looked to Chaewon next to her. The girl was smiling comfortably as she nodded to her. “Are you ready?”

“I am,” Hyejoo answered without hesitation, looking to her enemies in front of her. “I’ve got your back.”

Their hands fell apart from each other, falling to their sides. Within Hyejoo, it surged once more—

**The expiration of light...**

—but it was immediately subdued as warmth encompassed Hyejoo’s being. She and Chaewon shared in becoming surrounded by soft light, the tether of mana between them materializing.

With ferocity, Jungeun plunged her spear into the ground below.

It pierced a medium-sized runic circle of fire on its way down, bringing life to a circle of flames that engulfed the six of them. From the area in front of the circle, half a dozen pebble-sized orbs of fire took shape. The spheres were propelled forward, each finding a separate fiend.

As they made contact, they sank into the plastic bodies of the fiends and made a bridge of mana back towards Jungeun. She took deep, measured breaths as they slowly turned towards her, their bodies writhing madly.

Seulgi came up next to Jungeun, smiling playfully as clouds of golden mana spawned in front of her while the circle of fire encasing the group died down. Her odd eye shined as her mana coalesced into six runic circles, crackling with bolts of lightning.

With two deft slashes, she cut all six in half, shooting forth streams of electricity to the remaining fiends. They flew out and enveloped them in coats of lightning, their attention gradually focusing towards Seulgi.

“You been doing this long?” Jungeun inquired towards Seulgi. However, it was Joohyun who answered.

“Long enough,” the shorter woman revealed, feeling the steel of her axe with her free hand. “We really need to get this over with and get back to the others…”

Her tether to Hyejoo fully established, Chaewon took in a steady breath of air as she extended an outstretched hand. In the palm of it, beige-colored dust began to coalesce. After a moment, it spread outwards, materializing into a large tome.

White with tanned edges and with a shape of a winged sun embossed onto its cover, the book’s pages flipped wildly as it came to life. Runes on each page were vividly illuminated as her left eye’s iris became washed over with beige.

Next to her, Hyejoo had finished collecting a mass of her violet mana in front of her. It thinned out into a line, and continued downwards from the top of it in a curve. Her odd eye flashed as it coalesced and took form—a scythe with a lavender shaft just taller than her. Its menacing curved blade measured almost three feet in length, colored a shade of purple deeper than her eye.

From the center of its shaft and from its bottom, handles protruded outwards. Hyejoo took hold of her weapon by the grips as it finished constructing itself. Runes came into existence with a violet light along the curvature of the scythe’s blade and down a small section of the rod. She flipped it over, the blade pointing upwards as she readied herself.

Jungeun’s and Seulgi’s bodies briefly emanated a dark gray aura as every fiend in the room straightened itself out. Standing perfectly still, they were now locked onto their targets. The party of dolls took one step forward, and then another, all in a frenetic and disorganized fashion.

Lifting her spear out of the ground, Jungeun kept a watchful eye over the ones coming towards her. “Kahei, handle my group with me. Chaewon, Hyejoo, help Seulgi and Joohyun with theirs.”

Before anyone could respond properly, the beings of false life engaged without warning.

With a dexterous leap towards her right, Seulgi dodged a downwards aerial slam from the first fiend who had leapt at her. Joohyun was revealed behind her after she evaded, breathing out as crimson mana aggregated onto the edges of her axe. Catching fire, she dug the heated steel deep into the shoulder of the mannequin and drove it down across its body, causing it to squirm madly as it fell to its knees.

Before it could stand up fully, the fiend had a spheres of light come to life around its body. Chaewon’s odd eye glowed softly alongside the runes in her tome as shining luminescent beams were expelled out of her orbs. They held the mannequin steady, the light piercing through its body and stunning it.

Hyejoo finished the combo immediately with a quick step towards it. A clean slash downwards with her scythe lined up with Joohyun’s cut cleaved the mannequin’s torso open, revealing its crystal heart. A purple runic circle materialized from violet mana near Hyejoo’s head as she spun her scythe around, the tip of the blade piercing it on its path upwards.

Hyejoo’s eye emitted light as orbs of darkness materialized around the exposed crystal. Thrashing about wildly, she watched as they rippled uncomfortably before forcefully ejecting violet spikes from the insides of their abyss. Impaled from all sides, the crystal shattered into pieces as the mannequin’s body fell apart.

On the other side of the room, Jungeun stood above two already disembodied fiends as four more surrounded her.

Two equipped with sword arms lunged at her with staggered timing, inciting her to step to the left and then to the right. With both of them lined up in front of her, Jungeun reared her body back before shifting her weight forward with considerable force, piercing straight through both of their chests with her spear.

Kicking their motionless bodies off of her weapon, she was met with the sight of a third fiend jumping in from behind its dead comrades. Seeing a cloud of earthen mana forming above her, Jungeun leapt backwards into the air and landed a safe distance away from the craggy spire that Kahei had constructed the cloud into. The pointed end fell to the earth, impaling the fiend through the heart and anchoring its fractured frame to the ground.

“Seulgi, get down!”

A shout from Joohyun urged the electric sorceress to transition from an ongoing sprint towards her next target into a low slide. A perfectly thrown hand axe with crimson mana along its edge swiftly flew through the air above her. With remarkable aim, Joohyun had firmly lodged her weapon into the torso of the fiend.

Reaching the end of her slide’s momentum, Seulgi planted her feet down and followed through with a display of acrobatics as she kicked herself into the air and flipped herself over with a flawless somersault.

Her boots once again lined up with the fiend, she twisted her body as she neared it, digging Joohyun’s axe deeper into its torso with a spinning drill kick. As the doll flew backwards, Joohyun’s vermilion eye gave off an intense light as a terribly loud noise broke the atmosphere.

It was her axe detonating, the mana she had set upon its steel igniting an explosion. The fiend’s body parts scattered about the area as Joohyun’s axe vanished, only to quickly reform itself in her hand a moment later.

From nearby Joohyun, another mannequin broke out in a focused sprint towards Seulgi. She opened her mouth to warn her, but found it unnecessary as Hyejoo jumped in front of it and brought her scythe up through the bottom of its chin with heavy force. The girl of darkness clenched her teeth as she ripped its head clean off, eyes burning with determination.

“Chaewon!”

“I’m on it!”

Chaewon quickly approached, coming to a stop behind the staggering mannequin. The tome-wielding girl took a deep breath, a veritable cloud of her beige mana taking shape above the fiend. Coalescing into several small runic circles that began to shift around its body, Chaewon found herself not needing to trigger her own effect.

From behind Hyejoo, Seulgi leapt into the air with a glowing golden eye. Her own circle of runes spawning in the air in front of her, she slashed it several times with her knife, dispersing a chaotic string of electric currents. The bolts flew down, homing in on Chaewon’s symbol-laden circles of light and breaking them for her.

As a result, Chaewon’s effect quickly took place—shining white chains materialized in the air around the fiend, continually constructing themselves as they tightly ensnared it. Fully restricted, it fell to its knees as Hyejoo shifted her body backwards. Seulgi landed cleanly next to Joohyun as Hyejoo sliced through its torso, effortlessly tearing open its body as she cut through both Chaewon’s chains and its shell.

Hyejoo and Chaewon stepped back as they noticed red mana coalescing around the fiend’s now exposed core. Left with no choice but to retreat in opposite directions as a controlled explosion of flames suddenly went off between them, the fiend’s heart was destroyed in a blaze of fury.

Joohyun caught her breath as the light surrounding her crimson eye dimmed.

Seeing the tether between them start diminish, Chaewon’s eyes filled with worry as she looked up to Hyejoo.

**Reclaim your light. You will never be at peace unless she is within arm’s length.**

The excruciating gnashing and clawing within Hyejoo’s mind briefly came into existence for a moment, causing her to inhale in sharp pain. It quickly subsided as Chaewon came close to her, turning around and protecting the girl’s front as she recovered. The stream of mana between the two came back to full strength, their bodies glowing slightly.

“I’m sorry, Hyejoo,” Chaewon apologized towards a stumbling Hyejoo. The girl of darkness stood up straight, tightening her grip on her weapon. “That woman, Joohyun...she didn’t even warn us…”

“It’s okay,” Hyejoo assured her companion, her breathing steady once more. “Our positioning was a little off, anyway…”

“Shit!”

The pair’s eyes were summoned to the far end of the cathedral. Near the back wall, a frustrated Jungeun was driving her spear into the hand of one of the mannequins. It had defended itself against a killing blow, all while stabbing its bladed appendage through its comrade’s body.

“The other two are going to attempt to combine as well!” Kahei’s voice came from the walkways above, shouting in the direction of the open front doors of the building. Hyejoo and Chaewon’s eyes quickly shifted towards the entrance near them, witnessing one of the fiends tilting its head towards its ally. “We need to stop it!”

The call to action was met with four bodies bursting forward with speed.

From across the cathedral floor, Seulgi beat the other three to one of the mannequins, crashing into it with a shoulder tackle of utmost velocity. It was launched outside through the open door, leaving its brother to look at Seulgi. However, instead of immediately retaliating towards the electric sorceress, it bent its legs and leapt backwards with might.

Soaring backwards through the air, the mannequin landed safely next to its downed comrade outside. Hyejoo and Chaewon followed Seulgi outdoors, finding themselves on a dirt path in a wide open field. Joohyun followed, and as she came into range, she wildly threw her axe towards the mannequin as it bent down towards its grounded ally.

Joohyun’s heart stopped as she witnessed the fiend perform an obscene maneuver.

In an agile play, it had picked up the body of its stunned comrade and shielded itself with it, both nullifying the blow and revealing the core it was after. As Joohyun’s axe dissipated into mana and rematerialized in her hands, the sound of glass breaking broke out behind them.

“Chaewon, Hyejoo, restrict them!”

A boulder of immense proportions had been launched through the upper windows of the cathedral, tearing apart the front of the roof with it. On top of it, Kahei was steady, her eye of bright mahogany glowing fiercely as a tower of hardened soil rose to her left. Leaping from her heavy projectile to the safety of the tower, she took a breath as a cloud of verdant mana began to form.

In synchronized fashion, mixed mana of violet and beige began to coalesce in spheres around the two fiends. Hyejoo took a step forward and lacerated several runic circles she and Chaewon had summoned, releasing a flurry of dark spikes and chains of light around the dolls. They were immobilized for a moment as they were stabbed through and held down, but it proved to be long enough for Kahei as she released an effect in the form of a relentless storm of winds.

Mighty enough to accelerate the giant rock through the air, the pair of mannequins were crushed without hope of survival as Kahei’s stone shook the earth upon impact. Before the group had any opportunity to rejoice, however, they were met with the sight of Jungeun soaring through the air at a ridiculously high speed.

Forcefully ejected from the inside of the cathedral, the spearwoman nearly found herself careening into Kahei’s boulder until currents of winds from two directions stopped her flight path. Kahei and Chaewon had quickly acted in converting mana in order to help her land safely, Chaewon taking the noticeably bigger breath of recovery afterwards.

Jungeun’s damaged barrier flashed into existence as she recovered, showcasing a mess of cracks coming from the side of her abdomen. Without instruction, Chaewon approached Jungeun with an extended arm. Hyejoo followed at a distance as the girl of light coalesced her mana in the palm of her hand.

A soft ray of light flew out towards Jungeun, resonating with the runes on her long sleeved red sweatshirt. As the fissures in her shield receded, Jungeun’s attacker stepped out of the destroyed church.

“Sorry...I wasn’t ready for that one,” Jungeun regretfully apologized as she stood up straight. In front of the group of six, a sight all too familiar to Kahei stood. A frame of hardened red plastic surged with a perceptible aura of dark gray mana, both of its arms taking the form of double-edged blades.

“It’s alright,” Kahei assured the woman of fire, her eyes focused on the fiend from her towering perch above. “It can be difficult to stop the transformation into the enhanced state. At the very least, we did manage to stop one and we greatly outnumber this single fiend.”

“I’ve never seen a miscreation use this much phantasma before,” Joohyun commented with a scowl, scanning the mana growing around it. “Is this what you meant by them combining?”

Kahei nodded in response to Joohyun and Seulgi’s gazes towards her. “That’s correct. It appears that they can recognize when their chances of victory are dire. You can consider it their trump card of sorts. They bet it all on this enhanced state in which their capabilities increase exponentially.”

Seulgi flipped her hunting knife in her hand. A crackling storm of electricity enveloped her body as she smiled. “Like you said, six to one. Shouldn’t be too bad, right?”

Jungeun smirked as her fully recharged shield quietly faded away. She spun her halberd around repeatedly as flame materialized along its edges. It expanded outwards, covering her in a vermilion vortex. When it fell, her crimson eye was ablaze with renewed vigor.

“Alright, ladies. Let’s get to work.”

Jungeun took point, breaking out into a full speed sprint towards their assailant.

Still drawn to the spearwoman by means of enmity, it returned the action, running even faster than her. As it brought both of its blades down in a cross shape from above, Jungeun reacted with a retreating slash to the right, pushing back the fiend with the axe end of her halberd slightly.

Earthen towers abruptly spawning from the ground below, Kahei quickly crafted her vantage points with a single breath as several clouds of her mana spawned. Leaping over to one, the woman of earth pushed her staff through a large brown runic circle in front of her. With its destruction, the ground behind the fiend shook as a jagged stalagmite shot out from underneath it at an angle.

The fiend’s perception developed enough to avoid the flank attack, it rolled forward and avoided being skewered from behind. Looking up, it witnessed Jungeun leaping up on top of one of Kahei’s towers, and then again as she jumped off of it. Its featureless face followed her, not having had dealt with an aerial assault yet and watching closely.

“One of you, boost me downwards!”

Distracted as it was by its careful tracking of Jungeun, the doll found itself subject to a falling cleave from Seulgi.

She had ran up the stalagmite that Kahei had summoned from the ground behind it, launching herself off of it like a diving board. Chaewon’s eye flashed as jade green mana encompassed Seulgi’s airborne body, manifesting into a torrent of winds that catapulted her downwards.

Joohyun acted as well, taking point on one of Kahei’s towers with a series of jumps. Her axe in hand, she settled her crimson mana onto its edge again. She called out to the electric sorceress as she tossed it towards her. “Seulgi, catch!”

With nimble agility, Seulgi rotated her body in the middle of her descent, grabbing Joohyun’s axe by the handle with ease. In the same movement, she continued spinning, the velocity of her motion and Chaewon’s winds behind her adding a sufficient degree of force to her strike.

The heated axe sunk deep into the side of the fiend’s plastic torso. Rapidly, it started to melt. Flipping her knife in her opposite hand over, Seulgi drove her own blade as deep as she could before she was thrown off.

The side of its body now suffering a massive gash, Hyejoo saw its innards—the web of mana connected to the crystal. The fiend slowly turned towards Seulgi, tilting its head eerily.

“Jungeun, the attack was too strong! You’re losing enmity!”

“The hell I am!” Jungeun boasted with pride towards Kahei’s concern as she landed on another one of her vantage points. In the moment she landed, Jungeun quickly turned around and launched her spear downwards. It impaled the earth in front of the fiend, and with a bright glow from Jungeun’s odd eye, a tall column of flame took form around it. A blazing whirlwind hid the mannequin from view briefly as it ensnared it.

Seulgi grinned as she slid to a stop from her knockback, throwing Joohyun’s axe back towards her. “Guess we’re not too bad by comparison if we made it look at us instead.”

“Yeah, not bad,” Jungeun complimented them in earnest as she hopped down from Kahei’s tower. “You guys know what you’re doing.”

Hyejoo readied herself as the tornado of fire surrounding the fiend died down. When it vanished, however, only Jungeun’s spear remained. She quickly dematerialized it, feeling it rapidly take shape once again in her grasp.

“Where did it…?”

“From above! Jungeun!”

Chaewon answered Joohyun’s comment with a call to the spearwoman, summoning the eyes of the six sorceresses to the skies above. The fiend had made a monstrous leap high into the air from within the fiery vortex, locked onto Jungeun as it started its descent.

Before anyone could physically respond to the sight, however, it was stalled in mid-air as its body began to cringe and writhe uncontrollably. A series of massive voids had materialized all around it.

The black spheres released immense waves of violet mana as lengthy, thorny spikes shot forth from their insides. Hyejoo was breathing heavily, having had taken in an especially sharp breath with a forced, hastened exhale through her nostrils to enact her effect as soon as possible. She had just cut through a runic circle larger than both her and Chaewon combined, the end of her scythe pointing upwards.

Stabbed through and through in her network of shadowy skewers, the fiend was left completely immobilized as Hyejoo’s eye of violet burned with conviction. The girl of darkness seemed to be struggling to maintain her effect. “Someone finish it off!”

Hyejoo’s request was granted in the form of a massive tremor beneath the group.

Kahei’s odd eye and crystal both shined in unison as a series of her runic circles began spawn all over the ground. Jungeun and Seulgi arrived at the same conclusion as they immediately began to sprint around the area, slicing and cleaving Kahei’s circles for her. With each one, an earthen spire similar to her first stalagmite ruptured upwards from below, spiraling up high into the air and piercing the fiend.

With every successive spear of rock driven through its chest and frame, the fiend’s body convulsed more and more, pieces of its plastic slowly breaking and falling to the earth below. A final runic circle of bright mahogany took form above it, to which Chaewon answered the call. Her odd eye gave off a soft beige glow as the pages of her tome began to shuffle, the runes imprinted on them shining brilliantly.

From a cloud of Chaewon’s mana on the floor, a dazzling beam of light shot straight up and became a beacon in the darkness of the night. The area was illuminated to an extreme as the light encompassed the fiend and broke through Kahei’s aerial circle. With the shattering of it, a charcoal colored boulder as obscenely large as the one Kahei broke the building with came into existence.

Unable to move from its prison of shadowy spikes and rocky spears, the fiend found itself crushed to death as Kahei’s titanic stone fell to the earth below.

Sighs of relief quickly came about in response. As Joohyun jumped back down to the ground below with Kahei, she found herself embraced in a running hug from Seulgi. “Great job, Joohyun!”

“Starting to understand just what exactly Jaden meant by a level sixteen affinity for darkness…”

Hyejoo and Chaewon looked up to see a worried Jungeun approaching them. From nearby, Kahei followed, equally displaying surprised concern in her eyes. Jungeun addressed Hyejoo as her halberd faded into mana. “You alright, Hyejoo? That was...impressive, but definitely beyond the level of a Neophyte…”

“I’m...I’m fine, really,” Hyejoo insisted, clearly not appearing as such when she was the only one still catching her breath. “It’s just...I didn’t want it to get to you…”

“Hyejoo, you need to be cautious in using a surplus of mana for such a grand effect like that,” Kahei warned, her voice coming off as sweet yet stern. “Your unnaturally high affinity for your aligned element may make such feats easily possible, but your body and your manasystem have yet to reach a level where you can induce such effects without potentially serious consequences…”

Before Hyejoo could say anything, she found her hand being embraced by Chaewon’s. Her heart skipped a beat as the girl of light looked towards her, immediately ceasing the mana tether for a return to their preferred physical connection.

“Please be careful, Hyejoo.”

Hyejoo nodded slowly, feeling it click inside of her head at that moment. It wasn’t that she didn’t take stock in Jungeun’s or Kahei’s words. She respected them as her elders and she understood that they knew better than her.

No...it was simply the clear concern present in Chaewon’s eyes that spoke to her on levels beyond anything else. Chaewon squeezed Hyejoo’s hand lightly, not breaking eye contact. They gazed into each other’s eyes for a moment, and Hyejoo could feel the time between seconds pass as she looked to her.

The thought of Chaewon worrying about her...it upset her more than anything else.

“I’m sorry,” Hyejoo apologized sincerely. “I’ll try to control myself…”

“Alright, they’re all gone! _Now_ we owe you one.”

The sorceresses of LOONA all turned to face a smiling Seulgi behind them. Next to her, an appreciative but entirely serious Joohyun nodded. “Thank you. You have our gratitude. Now, Seulgi, we need to go.”

Seulgi crossed her arms in protest as Joohyun walked off. “Really, Joohyun? You’re not even gonna invite them?”

“They have nothing to do with us. Don’t drag them into our problems.”

“What exactly is going on?” Chaewon asked curiously. As Seulgi was about to speak, Joohyun turned around halfway, looking at her comrade.

“Seulgi...please don’t involve them.”

“They could help, though!” Seulgi offered as a counterpoint before looking back to them. “Assuming they want to, anyway. We would owe them again, which is double the debt to repay, but…”

Seulgi fell silent as she looked to Joohyun. Joohyun’s eyes lowered to the ground as Seulgi spoke up again.

“You really think we can rescue Yeri on our own…?”

Silence cascaded upon the field in front of the destroyed church once again. Hyejoo’s eyes looked upon its open doors and it's ruined frame. Memories she wished she could forget flooded her mind.

_It just had to be a church..._

After a moment, Jungeun looked towards Kahei. Kahei simply nodded.

“Alright,” Jungeun started, bringing all eyes to her. “Fill us in on the details and maybe we can help each other out.”

“Wait, you need our help?” Seulgi said in surprise.

“With what exactly…?”

Jungeun didn’t answer Joohyun’s question immediately, looking up to the moon above in pondering thought for a moment. With a breath, she lowered her head once more and met Joohyun’s left eye of vermilion with her own matched eye of red flame.

“It’s kind of a long story. Let’s meet up with your friends. We need to talk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading! i hope you found it enjoyable. for any questions or comments outside of AO3;  
> —https://twitter.com/Helseivich  
> —https://curiouscat.me/Helseivich


	6. 「 episode 6; arc 3.2 」 —tenebrous awakening//red velvet— 「 hyejoo ii 」

**「 episode 6; arc 3.2 」 —tenebrous awakening//red velvet— 「 hyejoo ii 」**

“Okay, here we are! Make yourselves at home!”

Hyejoo found herself standing in front of a large suburban home situated on the corner of a silent street. On the outskirts of a bigger town not far off into the horizon, the small neighborhood was as quiet as she would have expected given the local time of nearly midnight.

Seulgi held the front door open with a smile as Joohyun stepped inside. Jungeun and Kahei followed her closely, and Chaewon proceeded after, leading a curious Hyejoo by an interlocked hand. As Seulgi closed the door behind them, the four sorceresses found themselves stepping onto the jade-colored carpet of a lofty foyer of sorts.

The walls all around them were littered with shelves tightly packed with all types of books and reading material. The center of the area was adorned with a oak coffee table surrounded by dark green couches. The layout somewhat reminded Hyejoo of Jaden’s office. At the far end of the room, a flight of stairs lead to the second floor, and above them hung an ornate chandelier of beige glass.

“Seungwan! Joy!” Joohyun called out as she approached the stairs. Receiving no response, she wordlessly began to ascend towards the second floor.

Seulgi showed her guests a smile as she motioned towards the couches. “Take it easy, guys. You can sit down if you’d like. I’ll get some snacks.”

Following their host’s suggestion, the travelers seated themselves after Seulgi disappeared behind a nearby door. The four of them set their bags down on the floor beneath them as they got comfortable.

Jungeun and Kahei shared one couch as Chaewon and Hyejoo shared another, though the women of fire and earth sat at opposite ends in contrast to the other pair’s close snuggle.

Similar to Hyejoo, Jungeun brought her legs up onto the sofa in an act of maximum comfort. She looked to her teammates with a small smile as she placed an elbow on the arm of the couch next to her, resting her chin in her palm. “They’re good, huh?”

“Yes, quite,” Kahei ascertained with a nod, crossing her legs and resting her hands atop her knees. “They have a visible degree of experience handling fiends and it shows. They even employ strategic usage of tanking. If they decide to join LOONA, their skills would be a massive boon to our efforts.”

“No doubt about that,” Jungeun replied in agreement. “We’d be lucky to have them. Hopefully things work out like that…”

“You think they might not want to join us?” Hyejoo questioned with her eyes locked onto Jungeun. Jungeun returned the glance in full with a slight grimace.

“Difficult to say. Gonna depend on what exactly is going on with them in this timeline,” the gray-haired woman reasoned, her gaze wandering about the room. “They’ve clearly got a nice place to stay, if this really is their home...in the end, some people just aren’t comfortable with the thought of abandoning everything they know, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”

“Regardless, let’s do what we can to help them,” Chaewon chimed in, giving her teammates a warm smile. “It sounds like someone close to them was taken away. If nothing else, we can assist them in getting her back.”

“Yeri, was it?” Kahei spoke mostly to herself as she pushed up her glasses, remembering Seulgi’s words. “I wonder what the circumstances of her capture were...how have things developed in this world where a magus would be kidnapped?”

“What’s a magus…?”

A fifth voice entered the atmosphere with a question. Surprised eyes looked up and were met with the sight of Seulgi holding a silver platter. Hyejoo briefly scanned it as it was set down on the table. Four frosted glasses of cold water accompanied a carefully organized plate of crackers and cookies.

Seulgi seated herself fully on one of the single chairs as her guests helped themselves. Kahei reached for a glass of water and Jungeun grabbed a small handful of snacks. Chaewon took two cookies, biting into one while offering the other to Hyejoo next to her. Seulgi smiled as she watched Hyejoo lean forward and bite into it while it was still in Chaewon’s hand.

“A magus is…” Kahei began after a sip of her drink, stalling as she deliberated on her choice of words. Before she could continue, the sound of steps from above interrupted her.

“Yeah...alright, see you soon. Love you too.”

From the second floor, Joohyun emerged with a strangely calm yet serious expression set about her face. Pulling a smartphone away from her ear, she tapped on the screen a bit before sliding it into her back pocket.

Approaching the group, she sat in the single seat across Seulgi. Similar to Kahei, she sat upright with crossed legs as she looked towards Seulgi. “They’ll be here in five. They know where Yeri is.”

“They didn’t go after her?” Seulgi wondered, voice slightly muffled from her ongoing munching of her own assorted snacks. “There’s a lot of them, then?”

“That seems to be the case. We were being naive to expect otherwise. Should’ve figured most of the clan would show up for a sacrifice,” Joohyun lamented, her eyes falling to the table below. “We don’t have much time to act. These rituals are always done before sunrise.”

The room quickly found itself encompassed in a blanket of silence.

The four sorceresses seemed to be unsure of how to proceed, and Joohyun quickly caught wind of it as she looked to Jungeun. “What were you all doing in that church? I can tell by how you fight that you’re no beginner thaumaturges, so you should have known to stay away from churches.”

“If we should keep away from churches, why’d you run right into one?” Jungeun calmly asked back. Joohyun didn’t flinch even as her own inquiry was blatantly ignored. “Was there some reason to corner yourself against that many fiends?”

“Truth be told, I was trying to lure them in there so I could wreck the building entirely and drop the roof on all of them at once,” Joohyun revealed.

Her crimson eye came to life with a soft light as a small cloud of red mana floating in front of her materialized into a gentle orange flame.  Joohyun peered into it for a moment before looking back to Jungeun.

“Would’ve worked out, I think, but you guys just happened to be there. Convenient and lucky for Seulgi and I, but equally just as strange to try and imagine what four thaumaturges were doing on the upper levels of a church that far out of town.”

“What’s making this all the more confusing is your dialect,” Joohyun continued, her eyes shifting between Jungeun and Kahei. “Fiends, magus...I’d really like an explanation. It’s difficult to be fully appreciative of your help when I’m left with only vague ideas because I can’t properly understand what you’re talking about…”

Kahei opened her mouth to speak, but Jungeun beat her to the punch. “We’re gonna get to that part. Your friends should be here for that, though. All I can really say for now is that we’re not from around here. Can you tell us what’s going on with Yeri?”

Hyejoo watched in silence as Joohyun and Seulgi looked to each other with an intense sort of consideration. The quiet in the room didn’t last long, however, as Joohyun sighed lightly after Seulgi gave her a solemn smile.

“Yeri’s my little sister. She’s been kidnapped by religious extremists. At this point, most people refer to them as cultists. The cult itself...they’re called Red Velvet.”

The four travelers gave Joohyun their undivided attention as she continued. “Red Velvet believes that miscreations are a direct result of the fury that their god has brought upon the world. They kidnap thaumaturges and sacrifice them in a sick ritual, placing faith in the idea that offering their dead remains to their god will appease them. They truly believe that by killing thaumaturges in cold blood, those mannequins will stop appearing all over the world.”

Hyejoo shuddered, reflexively edging closer towards Chaewon. The girl of light reciprocated warmly, bringing her free arm around Hyejoo. Chaewon’s embrace did wonders in combating unpleasant images coming to life in Hyejoo’s mind.

“I understand why you were surprised to find us in a church, then,” Kahei said with a nod as understanding took root in her mind. “People like us don’t want to be seen by members of Red Velvet, and I can only assume that it can be difficult to exactly tell which houses of worship would have attendance from their members…?”

“Yeah. It’s more or less a secret society,” Joohyun clarified. “Supposed to be, anyway. At this point, they’re too big to really be considered a secret. Regardless, members don’t exactly disclose their affiliation to Red Velvet in public or anything.”

“Yeri was just going to hang out with some friends this afternoon, but…” Joohyun continued before her voice trailed off. Hyejoo caught notice of the woman digging her nails into the black denim of her jeans. 

“...it turns out that her friends had been messaged by someone claiming to be from the cult. They were threatened with harm against their families if they didn’t lead Yeri to them. Out of fear, they complied with Red Velvet’s demands and lead Yeri to some shady spot in town, and…”

“The claim was real, then,” Jungeun surmised as Joohyun paused again, discomfort showing itself on her face. “Resorting to blackmail against uninvolved third parties...unbelievable…”

“The worst part is that they didn’t even bother to do their research,” Joohyun remarked with a disgusted scoff. “They were only made aware of Yeri’s existence by proxy of seeing me with her. They’ve been after us for a while. They knew she was my sister, and they knew I was a thaumaturge, so they assumed further similarities and made her a target. What they don’t know is that she isn’t like me. She isn’t like us.

“Yeri isn’t even a thaumaturge. They’re sacrificing an innocent human girl.”

Joohyun’s words hung over the group with a melancholic pause.

As everyone sat on the information and processed it, Kahei was the first to respond. She brought her eyes up to Joohyun, though Joohyun remained focused on the ground below her.

“Red Velvet...are they like us as well?”

“No,” Joohyun promptly responded, her eyes narrowing. “They don’t know the first thing about thaumaturgy. They’re just regular people blindly following the concept that some asshole in the sky would be happy to see them murder us.”

“Are they all like that?” Hyejoo’s small voice came into being. Joohyun looked to the younger girl as she spoke. “People from here, I mean...religious people. Do they all think that…?”

“Thankfully not,” Seulgi replied with a sigh, bringing eyes towards her. “Red Velvet is definitely as extremist as it gets. I mean, pretty much every school of faith and religion looks down on us and what we can do as blasphemous or whatever, but they don’t, y’know...hunt us down and kill us. They let us live so long as we don’t bother them—which we don’t!”

“We relocated here a few months ago in the hopes that Red Velvet’s reach hadn’t extended this far out yet,” Joohyun explained, “but it didn’t take long for them to find us. Ever since they first learned about us, it’s felt like they’ve had a branch solely dedicated to hunting us down specifically. No matter where we go, they eventually find us and force us to seek out yet another place to call home.

“All I want is for Yeri to live in peace,” Joohyun murmured, exhaustion set deep within her eyes. “I’m tired of making her change schools all the time, tired of making her say goodbye to every new group of friends she settles in with…”

“How old is she?” Jungeun asked cautiously.

“She recently turned seventeen. I’m her older sister by fourteen years. I’m also the only family she has left,” Joohyun revealed. She brought her attention to Seulgi across the coffee table. “We’re all without our families now. Most of them were taken by Red Velvet and sacrificed.”

“For a few years now, it’s just been the five of us,” Seulgi explained with a wistful smile. “Myself, Joohyun, Yeri, Seungwan, and Joy. We were all friends growing up, and now...we watch each other’s backs and live as best as we can.”

“Unfortunately, our ‘best’ life involves dropping everything at a moment’s notice the instant Red Velvet finds us again,” Joohyun said in a low tone. The scorn within her voice drew Kahei’s attention, bearing similarity to a certain frozen swordswoman. “If I could get away from it all, settle down somewhere that would let Yeri live in peace...I wouldn’t hesitate to do so.”

The four sorceresses exchanged glances between one another. Kahei nodded to them, all of them bearing no doubt that their thoughts were aligned. She remained quiet, however, and the silence in the room continued. A minute passed before it was broken by the sound of the front door opening.

“Seungwan! Joy!”

Seulgi’s beaming smile was a beacon of light against the dark mood of the room as she jumped up from her seat.

She approached two figures that entered the home from behind Kahei and Jungeun. The two turned their bodies and heads as Hyejoo and Chaewon looked on beyond them.

The first woman Seulgi approached was shorter than her, standing at a height equal to Joohyun. Embracing her in a hug, the woman smiled as her gaze traveled from Seulgi in her arms to the seated Joohyun. Heterochromatic eyes of hazel and ocean blue met Joohyun’s. “We’re back. Everything alright?”

“Yeah. Welcome home, Seungwan,” Joohyun stated as she slowly stood up from her seat. Seulgi released Seungwan from her hug, allowing the woman clad in a black and white plaid dress shirt and black slacks to approach Joohyun.

Seungwan shared in an embrace with Joohyun, much closer and tighter than the one she had with Seulgi. A content smile showed itself on Seungwan’s face as the taller girl parted the bangs of her wavy dark blonde hair. Seungwan’s forehead revealed, Joohyun gently kissed it before holding the girl close for a second longer.

“Giving away our food, Seulgi?”

The question posed by the second woman was met with soft laughter from Seulgi. Hyejoo gazed upon the sight of the much taller woman drawing Seulgi in close for a hug of deep affection similar to Joohyun’s and Seungwan’s. She looked up to the four guests with inquisitive eyes of dark brown and bright green.

“They’re the ones that helped you out, then?” Joy asked.

“Yeah!” Seulgi affirmed, breaking away from her embrace with Joy. Her hand found one of Joy’s, their fingers interlocking as she lead her towards her seat. Joy sat first, fixing her neatly straightened locks of ebony to her right side as Seulgi sat in her lap and rested on her left.

Opposite to them across the table, Seungwan took a seat where Joohyun had been sitting. Joohyun half-seated herself on the armrest of Seungwan’s chair. In a similar manner, their hands found one another as they calmly intertwined their fingers.

Hyejoo became oddly fixated on the sight of the two couples holding hands. Her eyes fell to her hand holding onto Chaewon’s. Even as Seungwan spoke, Hyejoo couldn’t help but get lost in her own sea of thoughts as she looked at Chaewon’s hand interlocked with hers.

“Thank you,” Seungwan announced in earnest, looking to the four sorceresses with great appreciation. “You helped us in a time of need without reason and without hesitation. We’re in your debt.”

“Please don’t worry about it,” Kahei stated with a shake of her head. “We were only doing what we could to help.”

“Sounds like this isn’t the end of our assistance, either,” Jungeun added. “Joohyun’s little sister was kidnapped, yeah? We’re on board to help out with that, too.”

“Wait, really?” Seungwan replied in surprise. Joy was equally shocked, looking to both Joohyun and Seulgi. Seungwan’s eyes met Joohyun’s above her. “Are you sure you want to involve them…? Miscreations are one thing, but the cult…”

“Well, they say they have something they need help with themselves,” Joohyun explained, inciting Seungwan and Joy to look back towards Jungeun and Kahei. “Though we still don’t know what it is, I think we could give it a shot after we get Yeri back.”

“So what is it you guys need help with, then?” Joy asked, confusion and uncertainty clear in her eyes. “Do you need a place to stay? Is Red Velvet hunting you down too?”

Kahei’s allies all found themselves looking at her expectantly. The woman of earth showed the group a small smile as she nodded. Pushing up her glasses, she addressed the thaumaturges.

“It’s…a little more involved than that. It'd be best if I started at the beginning. Joohyun, Seungwan, Seulgi, Joy...have you heard of the multiverse theory?”

「 ➤➤➤ ★ ➤➤➤ 」

“Thank you for coming, Sunmi.”

“Archmagus Jeong…”

“Oh, forgive me once again.  _ Grandmaster  _ Sunmi. Your fellow officers from your timeline have graciously allowed me the privilege of referring to them in casual contexts without titles. I’ve grown quite comfortable with the practice, so I apologize for failing to adhere to your preferences.”

“Jinsol’s brainwashed everyone by now, I’m sure.”

Two voices shared in light laughter within Jaden’s office. The archmagus was seated behind his desk, and in front of him, a woman a head shorter than him stood on the other side.

Her voluminous dark brown hair fell well past her shoulders as she ran a hand through it. With eyes of hazel and a bright icy cyan, she focused on Jaden as she dropped a manila folder on his desk. Removing the unzipped leather jacket she was equipped with, she hung it over the back of her chair before sitting down, appearing comfortable in her black tank top and white jeans.

“The results?” Jaden questioned, gently grabbing the folder and lifting it. Opening it, he was met with the sight of various detailed reports showcasing all sorts of charts and graphs.

“Mostly inconclusive,” Sunmi revealed, crossing her legs as she leaned back into her chair slightly. With her elbows on the armrests, she placed her hands in her lap. “You can imagine how obscenely difficult it is to discover whether or not some form of consciousness can lay dormant within the manastream, especially after only two months of research.”

“Yes, quite,” Jaden agreed in understanding, his eyes still dutifully scanning the papers in his hands. “Unfortunately, however, there is no other way to accurately describe the phenomena that has been afflicting Hyejoo.”

“Care to explain it to me properly, Archmagus Jeong?” Sunmi inquired, tilting her head with a playful smile. “You can’t ever seem to fully divulge the information I need whenever we speak over the phone, and summoning you from this building only works when the council in Mobius requires you.”

“I hope my lack of attendance hasn’t proven to be a nuisance to you and the other council members,” Jaden apologetically remarked with a sigh as he set the papers down. “Ever since our Master line managed to rescue Yeojin as our twelfth, we’ve been extraordinarily busy here in an effort to fully prepare LOONA for proper operations.”

“We understand, but Grandmaster Chungha might be losing her patience with you,” Sunmi teased with a smirk, evoking a chuckle from Jaden. “Grandmaster Jieun does seem to be rather upset about her inability to help out on this front, though.”

“Please tell her this isn’t something she should worry about,” Jaden quickly countered, visibly uncomfortable with the sentiment. “Her role as a council member is just as important as the roles our sorceresses here at LOONA are fulfilling. Your combined efforts keep Mobius running as a safe haven for all elementalists.”

“I’ll be sure to relay that information,” Sunmi said with a nod, gratitude towards the archmagus clear in her eyes. “So what’s the story with this girl, then? Hyejoo, right?”

Jaden didn’t answer Sunmi immediately. Inching closer to his desk, he propped his elbows up on it and folded his hands, placing them in front of his mouth. Sunmi watched with quiet intensity as the archmagus underwent careful consideration of his words. After a brief period, he spoke.

“There truly is no easy way to summarize it, so I suppose my only option is to be realistically blunt,” he surmised. “When we found her, Hyejoo’s manastream was corrupted to a degree beyond measure. It was so severe, in fact, that she should have long been dead.”

Sunmi remained silent as Jaden collected his thoughts for another moment. “We’re still not exactly sure how she’s survived as long as she has with that level of corruption. What’s even more shocking is that her manasystem didn’t completely rupture from aneurysms as is common with cases of extreme manapoisoning like hers. The only clue we had left was the fact that she wasn’t entirely the person we ended up bringing back.”

“She wasn’t entirely the person you brought back?” Sunmi parroted with a cocked eyebrow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“The Hyejoo that is courageously fighting for LOONA in an effort to save magi across the universe right now is not the same girl that Chaewon and the others found,” Jaden clarified, his eyes settling upon Sunmi’s. “She is only half of that girl. I believe the most apt way to put it would be to say that Hyejoo is suffering from some form of dissociative identity disorder.”

“Like a split personality, then?” Sunmi reasoned, inciting a nod from Jaden. “You think that’s a hint behind why she managed to survive?”

“Even if only because absolutely nothing else could explain it, yes,” Jaden said in defeat. “After all the testing we’ve performed and all of the possibilities we’ve ruled out, it’s the only remaining point we can logically pursue. As strangely unfathomable as it may be, with no other leads and an inability to understand the problem further, we’re left to assume one final possibility as truth.

“The corruption within Hyejoo’s manastream has manifested in the form of a self-aware alter ego that lies within her subconscious. It regulates itself so as to not destroy Hyejoo’s body or her manastream, as it understands that doing so would bring an end to its own existence.”

“Are you serious, Archmagus Jeong?”

Sunmi’s response came after a moment of silence. Disbelief filled her eyes, and Jaden could only return her look with a solemn nod. “I’m aware of how absurd it sounds, and I apologize if it seems as if this is all in jest. However, with no other explanation behind her survival possible, this is the conclusion we have arrived to.”

“Hold on...she’s naturally aligned to darkness, isn’t she? The report mentioned her having a level sixteen affinity towards it,” Sunmi inquired. Jaden nodded in response. “We know the manastream mutation that leads to a natural alignment towards darkness bears a higher tolerance towards the effects of corrupted mana. That tolerance even scales with the level of affinity, so...isn’t it entirely possible that her body is simply able to handle it?”

“Such a straightforward answer would be ideal, but we don’t have a proper frame of reference for how much corruption such a high level affinity to darkness could withstand,” Jaden revealed. “So, while that is a possibility, we cannot yet accept it as truth. Unfortunately, even if that were the case, it still doesn’t solve the matter that lead to this theory of an alter ego in the first place. When they found Hyejoo, she did not refer to herself as such. She called herself—”

“—Olivia Hye.”

Sunmi finished Jaden’s statement for him. He watched the grandmaster quickly skim through the reports in the manila folder. “Once Chaewon made contact and started the purification process, she then said her name was Hyejoo. That part makes enough sense now, I suppose. The circumstances under which they found her, however…”

Sunmi sighed as she closed the folder, placing it back on Jaden’s desk in front of her. She brought her eyes up to his, visibly troubled by something.

“Archmagus Jeong, you’re claiming that Hyejoo has a split personality living within her...and that it came about as a direct result of her manastream becoming impossibly tainted, correct?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“You do also understand that dissociative identity disorder is usually the result of severe childhood trauma or some type of post-traumatic stress disorder?”

“Naturally.”

“Which means you’re implying that the traumatic event Hyejoo experienced directly correlates with the onset of her manastream becoming so helplessly poisoned?”

“That’s correct, Grandmaster Sunmi.”

“Yet, knowing this...you  _ still _ refuse to share what exactly happened to her?”

Jaden’s eyes fell slightly. Waiting silently for a proper response, Sunmi was met with only a sigh from the archmagus. “It isn’t my place to say. Not yet.”

“I understand respecting the girl’s past, Archmagus Jeong, but I hope you realize how that’s going to affect my team’s continued research into this matter,” Sunmi explained with a grimace. “If we knew her circumstances, we might have gotten something far more concrete by this point.”

“With no offense meant to your researchers, Grandmaster Sunmi, I’m not sure you would have,” Jaden declared with careful respect. “Truth be told, I don’t believe the event itself that lead to Hyejoo’s corruption would reveal much in the way of her other self. Now, you said your findings were  _ mostly _ inconclusive, correct? Might there be hope for some understanding, then, even if minor?”

“Only basic anatomy telling us that the manastream’s path throughout the body encompasses the brain much like the bloodstream,” Sunmi began, holding Jaden’s attention with ease.

“We’ve known that much for a while, so...if you  _ really _ wanted to be technical, some form of consciousness  _ could _ manifest in the manastream as it passes through the parts of the brain that give us consciousness. That is a  _ very _ conditional ‘could,’ though.

“Not to mention actually testing for this sort of thing is another trial in and of itself,” the grandmaster continued. “There’s clearly something different between the samples of Hyejoo’s crystallized mana that you provided and those of other darkness-aligned magi. Whether or not we can discern how those differences might equate to the presence of a consciousness within her mana, however…”

“It’s still beyond our understanding, I know. My apologies.”

Sunmi took a breath as Jaden apologized. “I can only hope your hardworking team understands that failure is acceptable. These ongoing studies are merely preliminary. Not to mention, should all of my theorizing prove true, all of this will simply cease to be an issue in due time.”

“Chaewon’s purification, you mean?” Sunmi asked.

Jaden nodded. “If the source of Hyejoo’s dissociative identity disorder indeed lies within her corruption, then I believe that we can rid her of her condition once Chaewon fully purifies Hyejoo’s manastream. If that truly ends her plight, I will consider it a great victory in and of itself.”

“And if it doesn’t?”

Sunmi’s comment cut deep into the air between the two of them. For as impactful as her words were, however, both of them remain composed. Sunmi was relaxed in her seat, her eyes locked onto Jaden’s. “Do you have a plan if it doesn’t work out like that, Archmagus Jeong?”

“To continue research into Hyejoo’s mana would be the only acceptable course of action from that point,” Jaden admitted. “Whatever we can glean from your team’s research in the coming months will prove vital for such a scenario. For all we know, it may even result in some evidence leading back to him…”

“Maybe that’s where you should’ve started before coming to me,” Sunmi announced as she rose from her seat. Jaden’s eyes followed the woman upwards as she pushed her chair in towards the front of the desk.

“If he really is the source of the corrupted mana destroying timelines left and right, and that corrupted mana is what gave birth to Hyejoo's split personality in the first place…surely an answer or two would be more easily found through him.”

“Would that I could, Grandmaster Sunmi, but YG’s whereabouts continue to be an elusive mystery,” Jaden conceded. “We’re doing what we can, much like your team is doing what they can.”

“Sadly, that seems to be all anyone can ever do,” Sunmi lamented, giving the archmagus a pained smile. “Better to try and fail than to not try at all, though. Now, Archmagus Jeong, if you’ll excuse me, there’s a council meeting I must attend to.”

“I recall you saying you didn’t have much time today, yes,” Jaden recalled as he stood up from his own seat. Extending an arm, he gently shook Sunmi’s hand with a smile.

“Thank you for your continued work, Grandmaster Sunmi. I’ll read these reports in full and get back to you when I can.”

“I can only hope that our next conversation will involve a proper explanation behind Hyejoo’s past,” Sunmi whined in a half-joking manner as she retrieved her jacket from her seat.

She equipped it with a slight roll of her eyes accompanied with a playful grin. “You can’t keep it in the dark forever, Archmagus Jeong. It’ll just get spoiled eventually.”

“My sincerest apologies. Please, send my regards to the other Grandmasters,” Jaden said towards the departing Sunmi, bowing slightly as she looked back to him while opening the door.

“Take care, Archmagus Jeong.”

With the door to his office closed, the archmagus took his seat once again. Grabbing the manila folder, he retrieved the stack of papers from within it. Taking a deep breath, he began to read carefully, digesting the information in full.

Jaden's focus faltered as his mind wandered, however. He found his thoughts stuck on Sunmi's point of contention.

"If YG has devised some method of giving birth to secondary consciousness through mana corruption, then I fear we may have a far more serious problem on our hands…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading! i hope you found it enjoyable. for any questions or comments outside of AO3;  
> —https://twitter.com/Helseivich  
> —https://curiouscat.me/Helseivich


	7. 「 episode 7; arc 3.3 」 —tenebrous awakening//old friend— 「 hyejoo iii 」

**「** **episode 7; arc 3.3** **」 —tenebrous awakening//old friend— 「** **hyejoo iii** **」**

Hyejoo blinked.

The silence in the room made her feel like she had nearly gone deaf. The only sounds she could hear were the beats of her own heart and the steady breathing of Chaewon next to her.

Kahei had finished disclosing all of the relevant information to their four hosts a few minutes prior. In an eerie quiet, the group of eight sat practically motionless. Seungwan and Joy’s eyes were focused on the ground below them in deep thought. Seulgi’s gaze, meanwhile, was locked onto a contemplative Joohyun.

The axewoman of fire had been in a deep trance since Kahei’s explanation came to an end. The laps her thoughts were no doubt running around her mind were easily visible through her pensive eyes.

The lack of conversation continued further still, inciting Hyejoo to tighten her grasp on Chaewon’s hands. The palpable tension of the room was making her more and more uncomfortable by the second. Chaewon understood, returning the notion as she squeezed her own hand around Hyejoo’s.

“As soon as we get Yeri back, I’m taking her to their universe.”

After moments that felt like a compressed eternity finally came to an end, Joohyun’s calm declaration shattered the noiselessness surrounding the group. All eyes came to her, but the gaze she returned was Kahei’s. “I’ll go with you. Anything to let Yeri live in peace. Anything.”

“Just like that, Joohyun?” Joy remarked, bringing the older woman’s eyes to her. An unpleasant sort of uncertainty was present on Joy’s face.   “This is our home, isn’t it...?”

“It won’t be for much longer if what they’re saying is true,” Joohyun countered, her eyes falling back to the floor. Seungwan placed her free hand atop her other interlocked with Joohyun’s. “I’m already inclined to believe it is. You’ve seen the phantasmal pathway in the sky get darker and darker over the past few years. I’m sure some of the phantadrops aren’t faring any better…”

“What did you say your words were for all this stuff again?” Seulgi questioned towards Kahei, her fingers idly playing with Joy’s hair. “Kinda lost track of those specifics when you dropped the whole alternate timeline stuff on us…”

“Your phantasmal pathways are our leylines, and your phantadrops are our manapools or manachasms,” Kahei reiterated, resulting in a series of nods from Seulgi. “Phantasma is mana, thaumaturgy is elementalism, and thaumaturges are elementalists or magi. That leaves fiends as—”

“Miscreations,” Joohyun finished, clenching her teeth ever so slightly as her mind came to life with images of the mannequins. “As if Red Velvet wasn’t enough to stop us from living in peace, those things will always be nearby to ruin our day, too…”

“Someone really did this to our world?” Seungwan spoke up, glancing towards Kahei and Jungeun. “The corruption of the phantasmal pathway...that wasn’t natural?”

“Not in the slightest,” Chaewon’s voice answered before they could. Hyejoo lifted her head off of Chaewon’s shoulder, looking to her quietly as she continued. “A wicked, cruel man did this...if you could even call him a man. I’m uncomfortable considering him so much as human at this point…”

“That’s why we’re out here,” Jungeun reconfirmed, bringing her glass of water back down to the table in front of her. “Just trying to save whatever lives we can. The whole bit about recruiting you for our efforts is entirely optional, by the way, though Jaden would be the one to give you that whole spiel. It’d help us a lot, but what would help us the most is knowing you’re safe in our timeline.”

“I don’t need to hear it again,” Joohyun announced. Her tone was clear with dead set conviction. “My mind’s made up. We’re getting Yeri back and she and I are going back with them.”

“Joohyun…”

Rising from her seat, Joohyun gently slipped away from Seungwan’s grasp as she made way for the stairs. She stopped at the first step, turning back to look upon her companions. After glancing at Seulgi and Joy, her eyes remained settled on Seungwan.

“As much as I want you all to come with Yeri and I, it’s your decision,” Joohyun began, her eyes held on Seungwan still. “If you feel that attached to our universe, I won’t stop you...but this isn’t really home anymore. It stopped being home the moment we were targeted just cause of what we are. We’re not safe here. _Yeri_ isn’t safe here, and she isn’t even like us...so I’m going. This is the last time my little sister’s gonna have to move away from her friends.”

The determination emanating from Joohyun was practically audible in her footsteps as she ascended the stairs. Seungwan gave the rest of the group a nod as she followed her, disappearing with her own ascent above.

The four guests looked to Seulgi as she spoke up to Joy. “What do you think, Joy?”

“I think we need to get ready to save Yeri,” the taller woman commented, slightly sidestepping Seulgi’s inquiry. “Whether I go with them or not depends on you. If you want to stay, I’ll stay with you.”

“Are you trying to swoon me in front of our guests?” Seulgi asked with a giggle. It developed into full blown laughter as Joy stood up with Seulgi still in her lap, seamlessly transitioning to carrying her for a moment before letting her down.

“We’ll be ready in a bit,” Joy addressed the four sorceresses. “Thanks again for helping us out.”

“I’ll be outside,” Jungeun said with a nod while Joy and Seulgi were still in earshot. Standing up from her seat on the couch, she made way for the front door. “Need some fresh air.”

“I’ll keep her company,” Kahei decided with a smile towards Hyejoo and Chaewon, leaving the two as the only ones in the room after she stepped outside with Jungeun.

As silence draped the foyer, Hyejoo’s head fell onto Chaewon’s shoulder once more. Her mind became lost in a thick sea of thoughts, unease swelling within her as she thought more and more about what Joohyun spoke of Red Velvet.

“It’s a little similar to your world, isn’t it, Hyejoo?”

Chaewon’s voice shook Hyejoo from her inner self, summoning her gaze upwards to the girl of light’s eyes. Chaewon wore a solemn smile that dripped with faint misery. “It doesn’t seem to be quite as pious as your timeline, but I can understand why you’re feeling uncomfortable here. The active hunting of magi...it would unsettle anyone.”

“They have it easier than I did, thankfully...” Hyejoo responded softly, her small voice almost struggling to form words into sentences as visions of her past came to life in her mind. “They’re lucky it’s just a single group and not everyone around them…”

“Soon enough, this timeline may go down that same path,” Chaewon lamented, her eyes downcast. “I hope the rest come back with Joohyun and Yeri…I don’t want to imagine them living the rest of their lives on the run.”

“I don’t think the four of them could live without one another,” Hyejoo said, her own comment reflexively making her inch closer still towards Chaewon. “I’m sure they’ll follow Joohyun’s lead…”

Outside, beyond the front door, a silent Jungeun sat on the front steps of the suburban home. Consumed by her thoughts, the forward focus of her eyes refused to shift even as Kahei took a seat next to her. The woman of earth didn’t speak, simply taking in a breath of air as she shared in gazing towards the city on the horizon with Jungeun.

“I’m starting to think you might be more of a leader than I am.”

Jungeun shifted her head sideways as Kahei spoke, looking to the Master sorceress quietly as she was addressed. Kahei aimed a somber smile towards Jungeun. “It appears as if it comes rather naturally to you, Jungeun. You call the shots both in and out of battle like a born commander.”

“Sorry,” Jungeun apologized, her eyes falling slightly. Kahei grimaced at the sight of the spearwoman seeming to be genuinely regretful. “I don’t really mean to take control. It’s kind of a holdover from when I was Jiwoo’s retainer. I had to make a lot of decisions to keep that girl safe on the road.

"Once Heejin and Hyunjin joined us, it only got tougher," Jungeun said with a sigh. "I had to keep those two out of harm’s way, too. Just got used to calling the shots…old habits die hard, I guess."

“You don’t have to apologize,” Kahei assured Jungeun. “Every call you make is one I would make myself. You were wise to split us up as you did back at the church. I was moments away from making the same judgment myself. You clearly know what you’re doing, Jungeun.”

“Don’t sell yourself short,” Jungeun sharply countered. Her eyes became instilled with palpable reverence towards Kahei as she looked back to her.

“It’s like Sooyoung said. You’re not a Master for nothing. The only reason we won back there as cleanly as we did is because of you. You’re just as important as the rest of us.”

Unsure how to respond to her own worth being praised and defended by her comrade, Kahei was left to slowly nod with an appreciative smile.

A slow, gradual moment passed as they looked out to the horizon once again.

“Honestly, I’m still relieved that this is the team I ended up in.”

Kahei’s eyes widened slightly in surprise as she looked towards Jungeun again. The woman of fire had her eyes focused forwards still, but a small smile was slowly coming into existence on her face.

“Sooyoung’s insanely strong, but she definitely gets in over her head sometimes. Her confidence is a double-edged sword. Just as easily as it lets her kill fiends, I can’t help but feel it could end up getting her killed, too. Working with someone so self-destructive...I don’t know how I would’ve handled it.”

Jungeun sighed as her smile started to vanish. Kahei took keen notice of her eyes as they fell. Jungeun became fixated on her hands below as she started to sheepishly rub them together.

“Working with Jiwoo or Haseul wouldn’t have been so bad, but…”

As an ongoing struggle to piece her thoughts together continued, Jungeun admitted defeat with a shake of her head. She turned her head to Kahei, giving the Master sorceress the most genuine smile she had seen from Jungeun yet.

“Just...I’m really glad I get to work with you, Kahei,” Jungeun revealed, her grin acting as a catalyst for the birth of Kahei’s own. “If there’s really a Master-level sorceress that I aspire to learn from and emulate...it’s you, without a doubt. You’re level-headed, tactical, and you think before you speak. My mind’s clear when I fight alongside you, which tells me you’ll bring out the best of me.”

“Jungeun…thank you.”

Kahei’s response was slow and measured as her mind processed Jungeun’s immense compliments. The respect between them was proudly shared as Kahei addressed her junior.

“In all honesty, I wasn’t quite sure how suited I would be towards taking charge. I consider myself blessed to be working with someone who I have complete faith in as a leader on the off chance that I might fail as one myself…”

“No way you’ll fail,” Jungeun announced, her smile warping into a confident smirk. “Did you hear how loud you shouted at the others to stop those fiends from fusing? I didn’t even know your volume went that high.”

Kahei laughed in slight embarrassment, inciting an accompanying giggle from Jungeun. “You and I can both make the calls, Kahei. If we both believe in each other’s abilities as leaders, then there’s no reason for either of us to shoulder the burden by ourselves. That’s what teamwork’s all about, isn’t it?”

“That’s right! Teamwork makes the dream work!”

A voice other than Kahei’s answered Jungeun’s question. It was accompanied with the sound of a door opening alongside several footsteps.

Jungeun and Kahei looked behind them as they stood up from their seats, seeing six familiar faces. Seulgi smiled playfully as she hopped onto the railing of the porch steps below her, sliding down past Jungeun.

Landing on her feet at the base of the stairs, she looked up to her with a grin. “Good pep talk?”

“Something like that,” Jungeun half-answered with her own smile. Her eyes found Seungwan and Joy’s as the last two to leave the home, closing the door behind them. “So what’s the plan?”

“We can talk in the car,” Seungwan said as she came down the steps, Joohyun behind her. Joy followed, happy to embrace Seulgi with an arm around her as the four approached a white SUV parked not far down the road. Kahei and Jungeun looked up towards a descending Chaewon and Hyejoo, fingers intertwined at the hip.

“Are you two alright?” Kahei asked sincerely, bringing nods from the two of them. Jungeun and Kahei gazed at Chaewon’s free hand as she brought it up, handing the two their drawstring bags.

Their goods collected, the four travelers came to the vehicle that the thaumaturges were entering. Joohyun took the role of driver while Seungwan sat next to her in the passenger seat. In the immediate row behind them, Chaewon and Hyejoo sat close to one another as Kahei and Jungeun filled the rest of the seat.

In the back row of the SUV, a comfortable and relaxed Seulgi laid down across the seat, her head resting on the lap of Joy seated at the end. Seatbelts were clicked into place, but the sound of the engine starting didn’t follow.

“Seulgi.”

“Fine…”

A playful whine from Seulgi came about in response to Joohyun’s voice. She sat up straight, snuggling up close to Joy and engaged in proper safety at Joohyun’s behest.

With her seatbelt’s click sounding off as the final one, Joohyun started the car. The engine roared briefly as she pulled out of her parking spot along the sidewalk and began to drive down the road.

“What are the circumstances regarding Yeri’s capture?” Kahei began, looking towards Seungwan in the passenger seat.

As Seungwan answered, Hyejoo found herself fixated on the sight of Joohyun. She drove at a moderate speed with caution and respected stop signs and traffic lights, but it was easy to tell she was fighting a desire to floor it.

“Yeri’s being held at one of Red Velvet’s ritual sites,” Seungwan began. “It’s located in the catacombs beneath the main house of worship not far from the center of town.”

“The catacombs lead to a phantadrop,” Joy continued, looking out of the window closest to her as she spoke. “They congregate around it and perform the sacrifice there.”

“A sacrificial ritual by a manapool?” Jungeun pondered aloud, scoffing with contempt. “That’s...I don’t even know what the hell to think about that. What is wrong with them?”

“Everything,” Joohyun quietly asserted, her grip on the steering wheel tightening ever so slightly.

“How many of them are there?” Chaewon’s voice followed with an inquiry.

“Most of the local branch usually attend sacrificial rituals like this,” Seungwan answered. Placing an open hand in the space between her and Joohyun, she quickly felt Joohyun’s fingers lock with her own as the older woman began to drive single-handed.

Joohyun took a breath. She turned onto the expressway, collecting herself as Seungwan continued. “At the very least, fifty. No more than eighty, I would assume.”

“And these people aren’t like us, you said?” Jungeun asked, recalling their earlier conversation. “No elementalism, no thaumaturgy, just...regular people?”

“That’s correct. They are trained and equipped with various weapons whenever they’re in their hideouts, but they can’t do what we can,” Seungwan explained with a nod. “They’re mostly brutes whose main focus is strength in numbers.”

“We have to...fight normal people…?”

Hyejoo’s voice shook with an uncomfortable quiver. Chaewon rubbed her free hand atop their intertwined fingers to comfort her, but Hyejoo seemed greatly disturbed with the concept.

“Absolutely not.”

“No way in hell.”

Kahei and Jungeun’s declarations were simultaneous, causing gazes to shift between the two. Even Joohyun’s attention was momentarily stolen away from the road ahead, her eyes peering into the rear-view mirror above her. She watched as Kahei and Jungeun remained steadfast after their proclamation.

“It’s likely that we won’t have a choice,” Joohyun stated with a fierce resolve set about her tone. “Not only would they not just hand her over, they’d look at us and see eight more bodies they could sacrifice.”

“Six more bodies.”

Joohyun raised an eyebrow in confusion as Jungeun corrected her.

Looking up once again into the rear view mirror above her, she was met with the sight of Jungeun’s similarly mixed eyes clashing with her own.

“Chaewon and Hyejoo can wait outside,” Jungeun stated, inciting surprised glances from the others towards her.

“We need a pair to watch the entrance we go in from," she explained." I’m designating them as the watch because not only do they need to stay close to one another, but I refuse to put them in a position where they would have to hurt normal people.

“Not to mention, Hyejoo shouldn’t be going anywhere near a manapool,” Jungeun added after a brief pause.

Hyejoo’s breath sharpened for a moment, but she was calmed by Chaewon softly squeezing their combined hands.

Jungeun took a breath as she looked towards Kahei. The woman of earth shared in her serious expression. “That alright with you, Kahei?”

“Yes, I’m in agreement,” Kahei said in collaboration, her eyes shifting back to Seungwan. “However, I must inquire about the general safety of the city. Would they be in any immediate danger if we left them outside as our rear watch?”

“Miscreations haven’t been spotted in town in a fair while,” Seungwan assured the Master sorceress. “Anyone associated with Red Velvet has surely already arrived at the phantadrop for the sacrifice, and there shouldn’t be any bystanders this late at night...they’ll be safe.”

“No fiends in recent history when the city’s right above a manapool?” Jungeun murmured to herself, catching Kahei’s attention. “Has the corruption not reached it yet…?”

“I could only assume as much,” Kahei agreed with Jungeun as the group found themselves entering a dimly lit tunnel after a short passage across a bridge. “It would explain why the cultists continue to perform activities by it…”

“Will the two of you be alright on your own?” Seungwan inquired towards Chaewon and Hyejoo behind her. Concern was clear in her voice. “We’ll be a ways down…”

“We’ll be fine. I’ll protect Chaewon.”

Hyejoo’s response was immediate. It was met with a brief moment of respectful silence. Chaewon smiled as Hyejoo turned her head towards her with a nod.

“What exactly do you mean by them needing to stay close together?”

Joohyun’s question coincided with their departure from the tunnel. Now on a quiet city street surrounded by high rise buildings, Joohyun was fixated on her rear view mirror as she came to a stop in front of a red light. She was openly peering at the closely embraced pair in the middle row.

“It’s...a sort of medical condition involving her mana,” Chaewon answered, challenging Joohyun’s gaze. Hyejoo’s own focus settled on the girl of light next to her, feeling tense by the slight irritation present in Chaewon’s expression. “We absolutely have to be within close range of one another at all times. Her safety depends on it...and you could argue that everyone else’s safety depends on it even more.”

Joohyun didn’t answer promptly, instead simply looking into Chaewon’s hazel eyes further. She tilted her head slightly as Chaewon appeared to be formulating words to speak, but the girl of light quietly closed her mouth and shifted her eyes with a dejected look. It was enough to confirm Joohyun’s thoughts.

“Sorry about earlier, then.”

Chaewon and Hyejoo both felt slight shock within them as their eyes darted to Joohyun. The driver’s focus was once again glued to the road in front of her, making a right turn as the light swapped from red to green. “The miscreation we fought in the church earlier...I realize I messed up your formation when I finished it off without warning. I wasn’t aware of your circumstances. That’s my mistake.”

A befuddling mixture of both relief and respect took shape within Hyejoo and Chaewon’s minds, and it showed through their faces as they silently nodded with slight bewilderment. The notion of Joohyun’s awareness towards her error and her open apology spoke wonders of her maturity towards the younger sorceresses.

Silence encompassed the inside of the vehicle as the voyage into the city continued. Minutes passed in an eerie sort of peace as several blocks of only parked cars were passed. Seulgi’s voice summoned everyone’s attention as another turn was made.

“There it is.”

Pulling into the parking lot of a closed business, Joohyun parked the SUV as an array of clicking noises made themselves audible. Released from their seatbelts, the group left the vehicle one by one. As Hyejoo touched ground, she looked up and was met with a sight that made her sick to her stomach.

Sandwiched between two skyscrapers much taller than it, a grand cathedral stood. It’s presentation was pristine with clean, white paint and stained glass decorating the windows that surrounded the grand double doors at its front. The moon shined brilliantly above the women as they crossed the empty street, making way for the chapel.

Joohyun pulled one of the doors slowly, the ancient wood creaking loudly as the entrance became half open. Lead by Chaewon’s hand, Hyejoo followed the others inside and found herself within a basilica far beyond the scale of the one they had just done battle in. The vaulted ceilings above her reached immensely high into the air and there were over twice as many rows of seats for those of faith.

The group approached the far end of the church floor. They stopped in front of a large marble statue of a winged angel reaching up with both hands towards the exquisite glass chandelier high above it. Hyejoo’s eyes wandered to the bottom of the sculpture, noticing the base it was perched upon was slightly off center.

“Jungeun, Seulgi, give me a hand.”

Joohyun’s request was answered without hesitation as the two came to her side. Standing at one end of the statue’s base, they pooled their physical might together and exerted force forwards against it. Their strength proved to be far more than enough as the collective entity of the statue and its base shifted to the right with ease.

Revealed beneath the base was a large opening in the floor. A staircase of concrete lead down a passageway lit by torches that hung on walls of cement. Joohyun came around its front, gazing down into the shadowy descent with the others.

“This leads straight into the catacombs,” Seungwan revealed as she stepped forward, her eyes meeting Joy’s before moving to the others. “Our trail ended here. We saw them go down, but didn’t want to go any further on our own.”

“A smart play,” Kahei commented, pushing her glasses up as she stared into the abyss below. “There’s little telling what lies beneath. We’ll have to proceed with caution.”

“Alright. Chaewon, Hyejoo, keep an eye out,” Jungeun instructed, turning around to the pair as nods were exchanged. “This might take a little while, depending on how deep the catacombs go and how much of a fight they put up. We’ll try to be quick.”

“We _need_ to be quick. Yeri might not have much time left,” Joohyun asserted. Her crimson eye seemed to come to life with a burning drive to act. “Let’s go.”

The axewoman entered first. Close behind her, Seungwan, Joy, and Seulgi followed. Jungeun proceeded afterwards, and Kahei began her descent next. A few steps down, however, she turned to face Chaewon and Hyejoo.

“We’ll be back as soon as possible. Please be careful.”

Kahei fully took in the sight of the two girls nodding at her before turning back around and continuing down the staircase. For a moment, the pair stood still above the hidden passageway, their gazes lost to the dimly lit descent into darkness.

“Would you like to wait outside, Hyejoo?”

Hyejoo was pulled from her trance as Chaewon addressed her. She turned her eyes, coming face to face with the sight of her companion smiling warmly at her. “You might be more comfortable out there than in here.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Hyejoo admitted with a small nod. “I don’t like being in here…”

Hand-in-hand, the two made their way back out through the open front door. A cool breeze rolled down the empty city street, swaying their hair as they sat down on the steps leading up to the cathedral.

Hyejoo’s eyes wandered momentarily, unnerved by the sight of such a well-maintained populated city appearing to be as devoid of life as a run down ghost town.

Chaewon joined her in quietly ascertaining the state of the immediate area. She smiled as she spotted some lights on in a building not far down the road. “Just an especially quiet city, I suppose. Much different than Mobius, even for this late time of night…”

“Seungwan said that fiends haven’t been around here in a while,” Hyejoo recalled, her violet eye traversing the long line of parked cars down the sidewalk in front of her. “I would have imagined at least a few people driving around, but...it’s almost like there’s no one living here.”

“It’s difficult to say what exactly could lead a city supposedly full of life to feel so abandoned,” Chaewon commented, taking a breath as another light gust of cool night air swept them by. “This could be the last safe haven left, or the first many people here have ever found themselves in…”

“I think...I think it’s because of Red Velvet…”

Chaewon turned her gaze towards Hyejoo. In silence, she watched pensive contemplation take root in her expression, her mixed eyes falling slightly as she continued. “It must be more serious than it seems. If they’re willing to take someone without actually checking to see if they’re a magus, then no one’s really safe anywhere. Your life would be over as soon as they saw you even talking with a magus…”

Hyejoo sighed, disturbed by the notion and the recollections of her past it brought to mind. “Maybe they don’t have it easier than I did...this world might be just as bad as my own in its own way…”

For a moment, Chaewon remained silent, merely taking in the sight of Hyejoo’s disconsolate eyes stuck in a transfixed state. The younger girl no doubt getting swept up in her memories once again, Chaewon brought her free hand behind Hyejoo and gently rubbed her back.

“Don’t think about that stuff, Hyejoo. I know it’s easier said than done, but you can’t let yourself get hung up on the past,” Chaewon reasoned, bringing Hyejoo’s eyes to her. “What’s done is done. You have to live in the present and look towards the future.”

Hyejoo’s still quietness persisted as a smile manifested on Chaewon’s face. Pure and bright, the warmth it radiated enveloped Hyejoo in a peaceful aura. “I’ll be there with you every step of the way.”

Hyejoo felt it as she stared into Chaewon’s eyes.

It came to life within her as Chaewon smiled at her, and it burned with heartfelt passion as she smiled back. It stirred her soul the same way it did mere hours ago before they left.

The yearning to be close to Chaewon. The desire to protect her at all costs.

“What’s done is done...live in the present and look towards the future…”

Hyejoo and Chaewon’s eyes simultaneously widened in surprise as a distant voice repeated Chaewon’s words.

They looked forward, standing up slowly as a figure approached from the far end of the empty city street. It walked at a snail’s pace, each step heavy and deliberate.

“Spouting the same drivel as always, are we? I wonder, Chaewon...how long will this instance last before you go and spread such _wisdom_ to yet another unfortunate soul?”

Hyejoo felt Chaewon’s grip on her hand tighten severely. Chaewon's words trembled slightly. “That voice…”

Hyejoo’s eyes focused on the figure as it came closer and closer still, eventually coming to a short distance down the road.

A woman slightly shorter than the girl of darkness stood with refined, almost regal posture. Wine red hair was styled into a ponytail, colored a shade of crimson so deep it appeared almost brown as it flowed down.

“You haven’t forgotten me, have you, Chaewon?” the woman called out to Hyejoo’s companion. With heterochromatic eyes of dark brown and a sea-like azure, she shifted her gaze from Chaewon to Hyejoo. “Or has your memory of me been lost since you left our world behind a short half year ago? Is it due to your new friend?”

“Jisoo...what are you doing here?”

Chaewon’s question was met with shock from Hyejoo as the girl of light stepped forward. Gently, she willingly detached herself from Hyejoo, establishing the tether of her mana between them before their physical contact fully broke apart.

“Chaewon, you know her…?”

“She’s…”

“Please continue, Chaewon,” the woman known as Jisoo practically instigated, her eyes narrowing as she folded her hands in front of her waist.

Moonlight drenched her as she took a step forward, allowing Hyejoo a proper look at her buttoned up long sleeved dress shirt of red and black. A thick belt secured her ebony jeans, the denim of which became tucked away from view beneath her matching thigh high boots of jet black. “What am I?”

A stressful silence fell between the three. The noise of nothing compounded with the lack of life in the immediate area, unsettling Hyejoo greatly. Cautiously, she stepped forward, stopping next to Chaewon and looking to her. “Chaewon…?”

“She’s...an old friend,” Chaewon answered quietly, her eyes focused on the woman down the road.

Jisoo tilted her head with a pensive look in her eyes. “An old friend...I see. If that’s how you would prefer to label our history to your new friend, then I suppose we can leave it at that.”

“Jisoo, how did you get here?” Chaewon immediately retorted, perplexion quickly taking hold of her voice. “Our timeline...it should’ve…”

“There’s only one thing I feel obliged to make clear to you and your friend.”

Chaewon took a step back as a cerulean mist began to take shape in front of Jisoo. Defensively, Hyejoo stepped in front of Chaewon, watching the woman carefully.

Jisoo’s mana collected into a thick sphere in front of her. From the end facing Hyejoo, a fine line of it segregated itself outwards. A runic circle of matching blue came to life at her wrist, traveling down the length of her amassed dust as it materialized and took shape.

In her hand, Jisoo took hold of an exquisite rapier of blue and silver steel as it finished constructing itself. Her grip on it was well protected by an ornate hilt that swirled around her sword hand with twisted, bent sweepings of metal.

The blade that extended outwards from the hilt was thin, measuring well over three feet in length. It gleamed in the moonlight as Jisoo lifted the weapon, pointing it towards the two sorceresses in front of her. The sharp tip of it was aimed towards Chaewon’s heart, glowing as a small series of runes etched into the steel down one side of the blade glowed with a faint blue light.

“We are not on the same side.”

Jisoo’s odd eye shined with an intense light as her ocean-colored mana coalesced around her sword. Thin streams of water surrounded her rapier, suspended in place as they flowed towards the tip.

“What do you mean, Jisoo?!”

Hyejoo felt pain strike her heart as she heard Chaewon reply with clear distress in her words. Jisoo was already causing the person she wanted to protect a deal of suffering, and with her weapon at the ready, she seemed ready to cause much more…

“We’re enemies,” Jisoo explained with a flat tone. “Our teams don’t share the same goals. The people we work for don’t strive for the same aspirations. That means you and everyone you’re associated with…”

Jisoo’s eyes slowly shifted towards Hyejoo. “...are obstacles in my path.”

“I don’t—”

“She’s said enough.”

Hyejoo’s voice softly cut off Chaewon’s as violet mana took shape in front of her. Her scythe gradually came to life in her hands as she stared at Jisoo ahead of her. Hyejoo’s odd eye of deep lavender steadily glowed with an intense light as her fingers tightened around the grips of her finished weapon.

“I don’t know what she used to mean to you, Chaewon, but she’s made herself clear,” Hyejoo stated, the runes along the blade of her scythe lighting up softly.

“She isn’t who she was before. She’s an enemy. She wants to hurt us...to hurt you. I won’t...I won’t let her do that.”

“Oh?” Jisoo muttered in amusement, her focus on Hyejoo intensifying with curiosity. “You’ve found someone quite determined to keep you safe, Chaewon. How admirable...but do you possess the strength to be making such claims in the first place?”

“If you’re so insistent on dueling instead of simply explaining yourself, then you leave us no choice.”

A gentle beige light began to radiate from Chaewon’s body behind Hyejoo as she assimilated her mana.

Her tome flashed into existence in the palm of her hand, its pages shifting themselves as the runes within became illuminated. “I’m not sure what’s happened to you, Jisoo...but please don’t underestimate us.”

“ _You’re_ unsure what’s happened to _me_?” Jisoo mirrored with a slight scowl, her eyes settling onto Chaewon behind Hyejoo.

Azure mana surrounded her with a breath. With her exhale, it coalesced into spiraling streams of water that enveloped Jisoo’s frame at a distance. “Choice words for an ‘old friend’ who willingly abandoned the community that took her in. You’re no better than the parents who disowned all of us back home…”

Jisoo sighed.

She took a single step forward, and then another, her focus coming back to Hyejoo. She ran her index and middle fingers across the length of her blade, its liquid aura parting along their path down the steel.

“It matters not. I’ll placate the old sorcerer by disposing of you both here.”

With every step closer the present threat came towards her and Chaewon, Hyejoo felt it.

The potent danger in front of her made it impossible for it to be fully subdued, even with the constant warmth of Chaewon’s tether keeping it in check.

The infuriated gnawing and manic scratching of her other self against the inside of her mind grew slowly.

Hyejoo took a deep breath, steadying herself against its urge to break free.

**Your life is in danger. However, more importantly, so is hers.**

_I know._

**She cannot fall. She cannot perish.**

_I know._

**She is—**

_—the physical manifestation of my will to live._

**_I know._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading! i hope you found it enjoyable. for any questions or comments outside of AO3;  
> —https://twitter.com/Helseivich  
> —https://curiouscat.me/Helseivich


	8. 「 episode 8; arc 3.4 」 —tenebrous awakening//submission— 「 hyejoo iv 」

**「** **episode 8; arc 3.4** **」 —tenebrous awakening//submission— 「** **hyejoo iv** **」**

Hyejoo could not have predicted the agility Jisoo possessed.

The lean, nimble swordswoman burst towards her with a rush of speed rivaling that of Hyunjin and Jungeun. With her body leaned forward slightly, the weight of her boots almost seemed irrelevant as she began to close the distance between herself and the pair with immense swiftness. She carefully held her rapier close to her body, the middle of the blade resting in her free hand as her streams of water continued to flow around both her frame and her steel.

Rushing to take a defensive stance at the onset of Jisoo’s sudden advance, Hyejoo planted her feet down firmly with the blade of her scythe pointed upwards. Her eyes narrowing, she focused on her incoming target. Behind her, Chaewon’s odd eye came to life with a beige glow.

“Exercise caution, Hyejoo,” Chaewon advised in a hurried breath as the pages of her tome began to shift. “Jisoo’s alignment to water flows in a clockwise path. She has a high level of affinity with each of your weaknesses.”

Spheres of warm light quickly took shape in the air down the road in front of them as Hyejoo nodded quietly.

With Chaewon’s breath, they hastily expelled white chains from their infinite insides. Continuing to spawn from their voids, they shot down the street towards Jisoo. Most of them were low to the ground, with a collection coming in behind them from higher up.

Jisoo’s calm expression didn’t shift in the slightest as Chaewon’s effect neared her. The floating  vertical rivers encompassing her body split off into several smaller streams as she ran forward, each one challenging the approach of a chain. With a momentarily held breath, Jisoo’s eye of azure glimmered with a shine as cyan mana manifested at the end of her forward moving streams of water.

The bright blue dust coalesced into frost. As Jisoo’s water came into contact with the cold clouds and rushed past them, the end of each stream froze, expanding into small walls of ice. With each of Chaewon’s chains being forced to a dead stop as they collided into her frozen barriers, Jisoo was free to continue her charge. In the following moment, she had come face to face with Hyejoo.

The water surrounding the blade of Jisoo’s rapier rushed downwards and surrounded her sword hand as she extended her weapon towards Hyejoo. The liquid sunk into the twisted sweepings of the hilt, and in a chain reaction, the blue runes along the surface of the sword began to glow.

In the only defensive maneuver she could properly calculate at a moment’s notice, Hyejoo rotated her weapon with a quick movement of her hands. The blade of her scythe positioned in front of the incoming rapier, Hyejoo caught the tip of Jisoo’s armament in the crevice between the blade’s base and the top of the shaft. She exerted physical force as she put her weight into her ankles, holding herself steady and locking Jisoo into place with her.

In the same instant, Chaewon’s chains of light hurriedly retracted themselves into their source points. Without delay, they immediately shot forth once again after fully disappearing into the spheres, now directing themselves towards Jisoo’s ankles and wrists. Caught by Hyejoo’s hold, Jisoo’s eyes quickly shifted to the girl of light behind her opponent.

“What do you take me for...?”

Jisoo’s comment was accompanied with a move so elementary yet strangely reasonable that Hyejoo didn’t expect it, nor did she immediately process it. With Chaewon’s effect coming close to fully restricting her movement, the swordswoman simply let go of her weapon quietly, allowing gravity to seize it.

“Chaewon!”

In a brazen display of quick, straightforward thinking, Jisoo freed herself of her entrapment. Hyejoo’s shout coincided with the swordswoman circling around her with accelerated steps, coming far too close to Chaewon for her liking.

With a degree of mastery similar to Jungeun and Kahei, Jisoo’s rapier had fully dissolved into her ocean blue mist before it could even touch the floor. No more than a single moment passed before it perfectly reconstructed itself in the grasp of her extended hand, the sharp tip inches from Chaewon’s chest.

Turning around to come to Chaewon’s aid, Hyejoo was met with numerous clouds of icy mana in front of Jisoo’s back. The azure dust behind Jisoo quickly materialized into jagged icicles that propelled themselves forward without warning.

Hyejoo was left to inhale sharply and exhale forcefully as violet mana took shape in front of her, coalescing into a collection of medium sized voids of shadow arranged haphazardly. As they gave birth to violent, thrashing spikes that overpowered Jisoo’s heavy rain of consistent projectiles, Hyejoo could only look ahead and watch her companion suffer.

With both hands, Chaewon held her closed tome outwards, the cover facing Jisoo as she exerted force into it with a piercing thrust of her blade. Chaewon’s barrier flashed into existence, encompassing both her body and her book in a shield of light. Runes etched into Chaewon’s teal sweatshirt glowed with a faint light as small cracks began to spawn at both of her hands.

As the standoff continued, Jisoo suddenly exhaled, inciting Chaewon’s eyes to widen with fear. Hyejoo’s own expression turned dark as she saw the reason for Chaewon’s worry herself.

Crimson mana now enveloped Jisoo’s rapier, and with the shimmering of her azure odd eye, the red cloud ignited into existence as a raging blaze. Evaporating the water both around her sword and body, a wave of heat rushed past the three as her weapon combusted, donning a coat of cerulean flame.

With the shift of her weapon’s element, the previously minimal cracks at Chaewon’s hands suddenly transformed into a veritable web of fractures.

Hyejoo’s heart sank as Chaewon yelped, her barrier rapidly succumbing to its exploited weak point.

Deeply ingrained fissures of massive proportions reached her shoulders in the blink of an eye. With continued force exerted from Jisoo as she pushed the tip of her rapier further into Chaewon’s now trembling book, the damage was spreading down Chaewon’s body at an alarming rate.

The heat emanating from Jisoo quickly melting the remainder of her frozen projectiles behind her, Hyejoo’s mind only had time to process a single concept before raw instinct made her act ahead of it.

_I’ll protect her._

Her thoughts stalled, frozen in time as a lavender runic circle of gargantuan dimensions took shape in front of her near instantly.

_I have to protect her._

Hyejoo didn’t allow herself the courtesy of thinking of anything else. Silently, she slashed through the center of her circle with so much force that the pavement beneath her feet gave way, rupturing slightly.

**_I need to protect her._ **

Hyejoo felt an immense surge of pain flow through her body as her runic circle came apart at the center. With her odd eye glowing fiercely as it dissolved, she clenched her teeth and endured agony that she convinced herself was surely incomparable to what Chaewon was experiencing.

Hyejoo’s breathing quickened as she summoned nothingness itself. A volatile, insidious abyss of darkness came into existence in front of her.

Shaped as a wicked disc with uneven bladed edges, it stood vertically at over two feet in both height and diameter. The only color it held was the deep violet aura that encompassed it. Coinciding with otherworldly physical discomfort that made Hyejoo clutch her chest, it began to spin in place at a breakneck pace as its metallic surface convulsed. The spikes and barbs at its edges writhed madly as if it had a mind of its own.

Feeling strange vibrations displacing the air behind her, Jisoo turned her head. As she peered at the effect from the corner of her eyes, Hyejoo saw it—Jisoo’s composed expression quickly being overwritten with a look of horrified fear as the shadowy sawblade was already skyrocketing towards her with blinding speed.

Her pressure against her target letting up as she could only brace herself in her current position, Chaewon jumped to the side and ran towards an out of breath Hyejoo. Taking point, Chaewon stood in front of Hyejoo and turned to face Jisoo as the pages of her tome shuffled. A sphere of light materialized above her. From it, a column of soft, beige light rained down. It encompassed her body, the runes in her clothing glowing as her barrier manifested and quickly repaired itself.

With damaged, labored breaths, Hyejoo watched the result of her own handiwork as her effect crashed into Jisoo.

The impact alone sent the swordswoman sliding several feet down the pavement, and upon contact, her barrier materialized and immediately suffered extreme damage. Hundreds of splintered veins originating from her spine wrapped around her torso in every direction.

The cracks spread like wildfire as the sawblade continued to spin against her back. Its razor edges sank deeper and deeper into Jisoo’s shield with every rotation, splitting her barrier more and more.

Before Jisoo had to take further countermeasures to prevent the complete destruction of her defense system, Hyejoo’s disc of darkness suddenly dissipated into dust.

Unable to maintain her remarkably dominant effect for much longer than a few seconds, Hyejoo fell to one knee and desperately gasped for air as her onslaught came to a premature conclusion. With every strained breath that followed, the pain tormenting her body gradually subsided and the frighteningly rapid beating of her heart returned to a normal rate.

“I’m sorry,” Hyejoo apologized between heavy inhales and exhales of air. With one final gasp, she stood back up, grabbing proper hold of her scythe. “I wasn’t….I wasn’t sure what else to do there, Chaewon…”

“I’m the one who should apologize.”

Chaewon spoke with assertive certainty as her eyes remained upon the recovering Jisoo. “I told her not to underestimate us, but I didn’t take my own advice...that was a sleight of hand that I should have been able to react to properly. It’s my fault you had to hurt yourself to use such an effect so suddenly to save me.”

Stepping forward, Hyejoo turned her head towards Chaewon. Her companion’s mixed eyes were somberly pensive as she monitored Jisoo down the street.

“I suppose I still haven’t fully registered it...the reality of an old friend who was stronger than me suddenly becoming a new foe.”

“We can stop her, Chaewon.”

Chaewon’s attention was grasped by Hyejoo’s determined declaration. The girl of darkness had brought her own eyes to the swordswoman ahead, her brows furrowing as Jisoo slowly stood up straight.

“Before the others even finish what they’re doing with Red Velvet, we can stop her right here. I’m sure of it.”

Chaewon gave Hyejoo a small nod as she joined her in keeping an eye on Jisoo. “I agree. Jisoo is a sorceress with experience beyond either of us, but she’s both outnumbered and facing someone who can exploit her own weakness just as well as she can exploit ours. That being said, Hyejoo...”

Chaewon’s voice trailed off for a moment, inciting Hyejoo to look at her. The girl of light’s face was stained with melancholy. “Once we break her shield, please be careful. We just need to restrict her until the others get back. We shouldn’t...I don’t want Jisoo to…”

Her words failing her once more, Chaewon fell silent. Despite this, Hyejoo nodded. She didn’t need to hear anything else.

“I’ll stay on a measured offensive,” Hyejoo stated, her fingers tightening around the steel of her scythe’s handles. “Only as much as it takes to stop her from hurting us. That’s all we need to do.”

“I’ll control myself,” Hyejoo announced after a pause. Small as it was, her voice was alive with steadfast conviction. “I promise you, Chaewon.”

“Thank you, Hyejoo. I’ll support you in every capacity I can,” Chaewon said. The moving pages of her tome and her own resolve settled into place simultaneously. “Let’s stay close and watch one another’s backs.”

As Jisoo turned around and exchanged glances with her, Hyejoo felt it abruptly crash against the inner walls of her mind.

**The mere existence of the swordswoman carries a threat beyond your comprehension.**

**She must be erased.**

Hyejoo grit her teeth. She attempted to steady her thoughts and redirected her focus to the comforting presence of Chaewon next to her.

It was impossible to not be unsettled by it—her other self stirring itself awake even beyond Chaewon’s diligent purification. Even when Hyejoo felt most safe next to the girl she vowed to protect, the presence of life-threatening danger instilled it with the tenacity to try and break through.

Hyejoo wanted nothing more than for it to stop, but all it did was speak again.

**The swordswoman must die.**

Hyejoo felt her stomach turn.

 _We don’t have to kill her_. _There’s...there’s no need to go that far. Chaewon doesn’t want that. We just need to stop her._

**Your anchor’s safety outweighs meaningless moral preferences.**

**You cannot stop her without ending her life.**

**To kill her** **_is_ ** **to stop her.**

**The swordswoman must die.**

Hyejoo closed her eyes as the words repeated themselves her in her head. She took in a slow, deep breath of air before forcefully opening her eyes again.

_No. If I kill her, I’d be no better than you._

The fog in her head cleared.

_I promised her._

She felt the presence of her other self within her mind fizzle away. Regaining herself, Hyejoo refocused her attention towards Jisoo.

Facing the two once more, Jisoo gathered her breath as streams of water enveloped her. The liquid at her command collected behind her as her barrier came to life. The water gradually sank into her back, and slowly, the chaotic fissures in her defenses receded.

With a sigh, Jisoo’s eyes shifted towards Chaewon.

“I see this is beyond the scope of your usual goodwill, Chaewon,” she remarked, her eyes slowly trailing back towards Hyejoo.

“You’re babysitting a proper demon child this time. Its strength is truly frightening...and at the same time, it’s equally laughable. To lack experience to the point where it cannot maintain a worthwhile effect of its own natural alignment...I pity it.”

“Hyejoo is not an ‘it,’ Jisoo.”

Jisoo fell quiet as Chaewon cut her off. The swordswoman raised a single eyebrow as the normally well-mannered girl of light took serious offense, displaying clear abhorrence towards her enemy.

“She’s not some monster. Hyejoo’s been through more than both of us combined. Treat her with respect.”

Curiously, Jisoo’s eyes shifted towards Hyejoo.

The young girl with potential beyond measure stood tall and firm next to Chaewon, her grip on her scythe tight and secure. Jisoo’s derogatory comments of Hyejoo’s supposed lack of humanity seemingly had no effect on her, evoking a head tilt from Jisoo.

“I see. What you lack in combat experience and the handling of your own power, you make up for in mental fortitude. Now, I wonder...how much of that is a result of Chaewon babysitting you…?”

Hyejoo didn’t answer, and neither did Chaewon. The two stood their ground, unsure of what move to make next. Their eyes remained locked onto Jisoo.

Jisoo took notice of Chaewon’s fixed, wistful stare towards her. After a brief moment of silence, she exhaled with a shake of her head as she addressed them with a small smirk.

“I suppose her general inexperience could be an excuse to suffer from tunnel vision, but I expected better from you, Chaewon.”

“What do you—”

Chaewon’s incomplete question was interrupted by the sound Jisoo’s preemptive answer: the loud flow of rushing water rapidly approaching them from behind.

Turning around, the pair of light and dark were met with the sight of a colossal tidal wave barreling down the road. Stories high in size, it effortlessly swept up vehicles parked down each side of the street like bread crumbs. Jisoo’s smirk widened as it rolled towards the three of them with heavy debris in tow.  

“To be so lost in the sight of me that you can’t even bother to realize the mana gathering behind you for the past several moments…just when did you become such an incompetent disappointment, Chaewon?”

As the tsunami swallowed the street whole with hurried haste, Hyejoo found her hand being grabbed by Chaewon. Without time to process whatever her plan might have been, Hyejoo watched her suddenly inhale sharply.

Chaewon held her breath for a moment before exhaling forcefully through her nose. In response, a bed of wind beneath the pair took shape and pushed them upwards with vigorous might.

Launched high into the sky, Hyejoo looked down below and witnessed Jisoo performing the same feat. With a briefly held breath and a deep exhale, the swordswoman propelled herself into the atmosphere after them, quickly ascending towards their altitude.

As Chaewon floated higher and touched down onto the rooftop of a building just higher than Jisoo’s waves, Hyejoo broke away from her grasp.

“Hyejoo!”

Aiming to have her actions speak louder than words, Hyejoo remained silent as Chaewon immediately reestablished the tether of mana between them. Her body drifting towards the side of the building Chaewon was stood upon, Hyejoo steadied herself as images of Hyunjin came to mind.

_Even if I can’t do it as well as her..._

Flipping herself over at the apex of her ascent, Hyejoo’s boots touched down onto the glass of a large window. Bending her knees upon landing, her legs tensed up as she redistributed her weight.

_...intercepting her like this is the best play right now…!_

Mustering as much physical strength as she could, Hyejoo launched herself off the window. With rebounded velocity, she soared downwards towards a rising Jisoo with her scythe extended. Jisoo attempted to raise her sword to meet her foe in some capacity, but she found herself suddenly blinded as she took a deep breath in.

“Hngh!”

A small sphere of light had manifested directly in front of Jisoo’s face. At the edge of the rooftop above, Chaewon’s odd eye glowed softly as she pierced a small runic circle in front of her with two fingers. With its shattering, the beige orb expelled a beam of glaring bright light directly into Jisoo’s eyes, stunning her briefly.

Their opponent dazed, Hyejoo proceeded with her attack. The titanic tsunami still terrorizing the street below and spilling over into alleyways, Hyejoo opted to hook her scythe around Jisoo’s ankle.

As she began to twist her body during her continued descent towards the furious waves below, Chaewon quickly pieced together Hyejoo’s plan and assisted her without hesitation.

With a briefly held breath and a steady exhale, Chaewon summoned a verdant cyclone that encompassed Hyejoo, suspending her in midair while also adding a moderate amount of speed to her spinning motion. Letting one of her hands free of her scythe, Hyejoo held Jisoo with her by the ankle, forcing the woman to pick up just as much velocity.

Facing the sky above with enough speed built up, Hyejoo released Jisoo from her grasp, throwing her well above Chaewon on the rooftop. At the behest of the girl of light, the winds keeping Hyejoo afloat redirected themselves into an upwards stream that lifted her up in pursuit of Jisoo.

As she was carried up, Hyejoo curled her body inwards with her scythe extended. Building up momentum with a rising aerial somersault further assisted by Chaewon’s winds boosting her, Hyejoo’s entire body became a living weapon as she transformed into a destructive fast moving buzzsaw.

Reaching the end of her own ascent, Jisoo was unable to act as she was subjected to a continued combo attack. With Hyejoo’s spinning assault approaching from below, her attempt at any form of impromptu defense was stopped by four chains wrapping themselves around her wrists and ankles.

A weary Chaewon on the edge of the rooftop took exasperated breaths. Experiencing the beginnings of strained exhaustion from consecutive effects, the girl of light kept her composure as best she could while orbs of light behind her spawned the chains that restricted Jisoo. Before gravity could bring her down, Jisoo was met with fierce might that kept her airborne.

With unreal speed built up from her maneuvers, Hyejoo crashed into Jisoo’s chest with an obscene amount of force. The potency of her strike made itself clear as Jisoo’s body shook violently even under the cover of her freshly materialized barrier. The swordswoman inhaled deeply as Hyejoo pressed the edge of her scythe into her barrier with every ounce of her being.

Jisoo held her breath as Hyejoo continued to exert force into her chest. The edges of the violet scythe dug into her shield slowly, a nasty mess of veiny fissures steadily racing across Jisoo’s frame. Hyejoo grunted through clenched teeth as she inhaled air through her nostrils. Small clouds of dense lavender mana quickly spawned all around Jisoo.

Hyejoo felt Chaewon’s winds at her back, keeping her afloat as she continued to apply pressure to Jisoo’s barrier. With a fast exhale through her nose, Hyejoo’s mana coalesced into an array of ghostly voids around Jisoo. Surging with her darkness, the spheres encompassed in violet auras released thorny purple spikes from their bottomless insides that lashed out against Jisoo’s defenses.

Falling victim to a midair assault on every front, Jisoo felt her body start to collapse as her barrier was pierced from several angles. With each piercing thrust of Hyejoo’s spike, the cracks from their points of impact grew deeper, eventually bleeding into each other. In tandem with the blade that was almost pushing itself into the fabric of her shirt, Jisoo was moments from defeat.

The concerned look on her face betrayed her emotions within, however. As she felt a series of ticks click within her body, her expression eased as she finally exhaled.

Hyejoo choked.

The girl of darkness dropped her scythe as both it and her spheres of shadow began to disintegrate.

Reaching for her neck with one hand and her face with the other, she pulled at chains of light tightly wrapped around her neck, mouth, and nose that had suddenly ensnared her.

The four chains that held Jisoo captive turned to dust in a similar manner. Hyejoo looked to her side as they vanished, her eyes widening as she witnessed Chaewon suffering the same fate as her. Already desperate for air from her excessive effects, the blonde haired girl weakly pulled at the chains restricting her.

Jisoo’s breathing was quick for a moment as she caught her breath. Recollecting herself, she summoned winds to keep her where she was above her still raging waters below. Behind her, four spheres of light had manifested from her prior exhale. Grabbing onto two chains with one hand each, Jisoo dismissed her beige orbs as she pulled them out of their origin points.

Veins in her arms showed themselves as she held her two captured prisoners steady. Pulling on one pair of chains, Jisoo dragged Chaewon off the edge of the building she was stood on. She dropped her other arm, lowering Hyejoo’s altitude to match Chaewon.

Hyejoo and Chaewon both pulled at their chain collars in desperation. Attempts to coalesce mana in self-defense were helplessly failing as all venues of breathing were cut off. With the loss of air came the fading of the tether of mana between the two. As it withered away, Hyejoo felt the birth of a migraine that gradually intensified with every second.

Jisoo tilted her head with curiosity, inquisitively eyeing the diminishing connection between the two and the accompanying degradation of Hyejoo’s already compromised physical state. Her hands quickly moved from the chains imprisoning her to the sides of her head as she cried out with a muffled scream.

Jisoo’s wonder traveled further as Chaewon extended an arm towards Hyejoo. Breathing what little she could through her suffocated hold, Hyejoo seemed to struggle to collect herself as she clutched Chaewon’s hand. With the intertwining of their fingers, the pain present in Hyejoo’s expression faded.

“How curious. Whatever this entails goes beyond standard purification...what exactly are the details of your connection to this girl, Chaewon…?”

Jisoo’s muttered musings to herself went unacknowledged as Hyejoo and Chaewon simply stared at each other. Hyejoo’s eyes were inundated with a sort of horrific dread that only made Jisoo more and more curious. The look in Chaewon’s eyes was one of similar fear, but the swordswoman could tell that she was doing her best to keep it together.

Chaewon blinked with surprise as the chain around her face dematerialized.

Reflexively, she gasped for air, taking in so much so quickly that she was left coughing for a moment. She and her companion both looked up to their captor. Jisoo was peering at Chaewon with cautious interest.

“Jisoo—”

“Explain the circumstances of this arrangement between the two of you,” Jisoo promptly commanded, interrupting Chaewon. Her eyes found Hyejoo’s quivering gaze as she raised a perplex eyebrow. “This seems far and away from your usual bout of purification, Chaewon.”

“She’s...Hyejoo is…”

Jisoo scoffed with contempt as Chaewon failed to answer in a timely manner.

“On second thought, disregard the inquiry. If such a simple question is something you must deliberate on, then perhaps it would be better for me to save you the trouble of answering by cutting to the chase.”

“Wait, Jisoo—”

The swordswoman’s expression returned to a neutral state as she pulled up on the chains in her hands, causing the girl of light to choke on her words.

“Farewell, Chaewon.”

Hyejoo’s mind was ablaze with anxious despair as Jisoo’s scornful eyes transitioned from Chaewon’s to her own. In a spiteful tone sharp enough to cut the very chains robbing her of air, Jisoo addressed her.

“As for you…”

Jisoo paused. Hyejoo felt a cold sweat drip from her brow as the swordswoman’s eyes burned with what she could only interpret as vengeful hatred.

“Die.”

In the following moment, Hyejoo found herself forcefully launched through a window into a dark office building.

Lifting her arms and yanking the chains downwards in a cross shape, Jisoo flung her two prisoners in opposite directions. Streams of her winds diverted towards each girl, adding turbulent acceleration to their treacherous flight paths.

Hyejoo careened through the air, her body breaking glass first and furniture second. She continued to soar until she met the stopping force of a reinforced cement pillar that stood in the center of the office floor. Slamming into it hard, she fell to the ground on her side. Strained discomfort settled into her body as she struggled to move.

Opposite to Hyejoo, Chaewon was tossed towards the submerged city street below.

Her lightweight body made a dangerously high speed impact with the rushing waves. Sinking several feet into Jisoo’s waters, Chaewon clutched her throat as liquid filled her lungs. In no time at all, the breathing she had just regained was stolen away once more as she gasped for air beneath the currents.

Jisoo’s winds carried her to the opening in the office building. Touching down, she took deep, measured breaths, steadying herself after continued mana conversion.

Stepping through the rubble of the office floor and eyeing the destroyed desks and chairs, Jisoo’s gaze settled upon the immobile Hyejoo. Motionless on the ground, the girl of darkness appeared to be fully incapacitated. Remaining still for a moment, Jisoo watched her body briefly before turning back around.

Making her way back to the opening in the wall, Jisoo’s odd eye glimmered faintly as her torrents of water below began to die down. After a minute, the intensity of her waves settled down tremendously, becoming light enough that the street’s storm drains carried away the remainder of it. In the midst of cars, benches, and signs tossed astray, Chaewon’s body lay still.

Jisoo held her breath briefly, and with her exhale, she let herself down to the city road below with a gentle breeze at her back. Behind her, the girl of darkness stirred.

_Chaewon…_

Slowly, Hyejoo grasped the carpet floor of the office area that her projectile of a body destroyed.

She could feel her heart beating again, her blood pulsing through her veins. Her mind was coming back together, and as she fought the pain coursing within her body to lift herself to her knees, she took a deep breath and felt it.

Rather, she felt the lack of it.

_Chaewon…!_

Simultaneous with her slow rise to her feet, her head surged with the ache of a lifetime. It clawed at the inside of her mind, vehemently digging its fangs into her consciousness.

_There isn’t time…_

Hyejoo hobbled towards the destroyed window she crashed through. With miserable agony, she tried to maintain her composure, but her staggered, strenuous breathing was proving the task difficult. Every step she took resulted in the chaotic dissonance in her head growing ever so slightly louder.

She could hear her other self, but she shut it out. She had to stay in control.

_I promised her...I can’t let it happen..._

She absolutely had to stay in control.

Hyejoo’s boots crunched shards of glass into even smaller fragments as she came to a gradual stop at the edge of the building. Standing at the broken window, Hyejoo gazed down onto the street below. Her eyes of violet and deep brown scanned the mess of lopsided cars along the pavement.

When Hyejoo’s eyes found her, everything paused. First, her heart.

A disturbingly motionless Chaewon was sprawled out on the pavement below. Her eyes were closed, and above her stood Jisoo. Her rapier in hand, Jisoo idly ran her index and middle fingers across the length of the blade. Stopping at the tip, she curiously dug the flesh of her fingertips into it as she muttered something inaudible towards the incapacitated girl.

_No...this isn’t...I was supposed to protect her..._

Hyejoo’s next pause was her breathing.

As she choked up, tears slowly began to form in her eyes. The pain in her head was quickly becoming immeasurable, but the agony of seeing Jisoo bring the end of her blade to Chaewon’s chest superseded it.

_Please...please don’t..._

With the sight of Jisoo slowly raising her rapier aimed for Chaewon’s heart, Hyejoo’s mind paused next.

A momentary lapse in conscious thought for a mere second was all it took for her to slip through.

**She is lost. You have failed.**

Hyejoo clutched her head as she fell to her knees.

Sizable shards of glass cut through the black denim of her jeans, piercing the flesh of her shins beneath. Hyejoo didn’t even feel the blood flow out, the overwhelming tremors surging from within her mind taking precedence.

**You cursed existence is without an anchor once again.**

The pain.

**Uninhibited and unrestrained, you are nothing but a harbinger of apocalyptic death.**

The _pain._

**The containment of your cataclysmic potential is not optional.**

An ear-piercing screech of unbridled distress broke free from Hyejoo’s mouth.

Her anguished cry dismantled the noiselessness of the city street, enough so that Jisoo’s attention was summoned. Her imminent execution of Chaewon was halted as she looked up behind her, eyeing the screaming Hyejoo in the window.

**I am the only one remaining capable of withstanding your unrelenting fury.**

Before Jisoo could even ponder the occurrence, a slew of fireballs crashed into her body from an open door across the street.

Her nearly broken barrier came to life as she rolled down the pavement into the side of a displaced car. A gray-haired spearwoman came to a stop in front of Jisoo, and following her, a staff-wielding sorceress rushed to Chaewon’s side.

**If you care about those you have left, you will submit.**

The quakes rocking Hyejoo’s head rampaged without end. For a moment, she made notice of Jungeun’s and Kahei’s presence. As her eyes quickly flittered between them, her gaze settled on Chaewon again. A tear rolled down her cheek as she closed her eyes with another blood curdling screech.

_I can’t…! I have to stay in control…!_

Hyejoo’s scream brought Jungeun’s eyes towards her. The woman of fire yelled towards her ally a ways behind her. “Kahei!”

“I’m on it, Jungeun!” Kahei shouted back as she got down on her knees next to Chaewon. Releasing her staff, it instantly dissipated into mana as she brought her hands over the motionless girl’s chest. With one hand locked over the other, she began to rhythmically press down on Chaewon’s chest.

Above, Hyejoo struggled to even attempt to form a cohesive thought amidst the unparalleled pain flowing through every square inch of her body. She felt it everywhere at the same time. Her blood felt like it was boiling. Her head was sure to explode. Her heart was pumping at an uncomfortable speed, and every single beat felt strong enough to break her ribcage.

It hurt to breathe. It hurt to think _._ It hurt to _exist._

**You have no other choice, child.**

Beneath her closed eyes, Hyejoo was unable to see Jungeun’s concerned, focused eyes on her. As Jisoo stood up, she looked between Hyejoo above and the spearwoman in front of her. “I was hoping that any help they might have had wouldn’t show up so soon…”

“Yeah, funny how quickly you can tell something’s wrong when the catacombs you’re in start to flood from above,” Jungeun replied with annoyed disdain towards the swordswoman, her own eyes still locked onto Hyejoo. “That was your first mistake.”

“First?” Jisoo scoffed. Her gaze found its way towards Kahei. As if she had anticipated Jisoo’s focus, a mass of brown mana spanning the width of the street was already coalescing. It materialized into a dense barrier of cement stories high. Immediately after, a replica of the same wall came to life right in front of it from another collection of earthen mana.

Hyejoo’s hands slid up her head. She pulled her hair by the roots, grinding her teeth and inhaling sharply as she felt her insides twist and turn.  

It wasn’t stopping. It wouldn’t stop.

Just like before, she couldn’t stop it on her own, and she wasn’t sure how much more she could take.

_They’re here...they came...they’ll figure it out, they’ll save her! I just need to hold on...!_

**You underestimate the speed with which you will completely annihilate everything before you.**

**Contrarily, you overestimate your capability to detain your own ruinous indignation.**

**Your manifested will to live was the key. With her passing, you must now submit.**

_Don’t say that!_

Hyejoo’s grip on her hair tightened as she wailed her loudest shriek yet.

Jungeun winced at the sight of Hyejoo’s descent into madness. The volume of her discomfort paled in comparison to the true degree of pain that emanated from every single fiber of her being.

_Don’t say was…! She hasn’t passed! She’s…she’s still here!_

**Enough.**

Hyejoo’s heart stopped. Her odd eye glowed with an intense violet light.

**Whatever chances she may or may not have at survival will prove useless if you do not submit.**

Her breathing stopped. Her arms fell to her sides.

Slowly, a sea of bright lavender began to gradually overtake both the pupil and sclera of her odd eye.

**The safety of those you hold dear cannot be guaranteed if you do not submit.**

Her mind stopped. The vicious clawing and rending earthquakes within her head came to an end.

**Everything ends here…**

Hyejoo felt it.

The gradual loss of ownership.

The unwilling transference of control.

**...if you do not submit.**

Unable to move her body in any physical aspect, the only part of herself she maintained possession of was her mind.

It was the final piece keeping her together, but the difficulty that now arose in creating conscious thought was beyond measure. The normally automatic process of thinking was now an arduous effort, but even still, Hyejoo fought to accomplish it.

Every muscle in her body strained as she struggled to remain conscious. It was the only thing keeping her sense of self from fading away. As almost impossible as it felt, Hyejoo had to think.

She needed to be conscious at all costs.

_I don’t...I don’t want anyone to get hurt..._

Her odd eye now completely washed over with a shade of illuminated violet, Hyejoo stared contemplatively towards the walls that hid Chaewon’s body. Though she couldn’t see it, she could easily visualize Kahei’s heroic attempts to desperately resuscitate Chaewon with chest compressions and rescue breaths.

_...I don’t want it to end here..._

**Then you will submit to your darkness. Submit to me. Become Olivia Hye.**

_Oli_ _via…_

Below, Jungeun grimaced. Her grip on her polearm tightened, her knuckles white. From behind her, Jisoo took a step forward, bringing the tip of her rapier an inch from the back of Jungeun’s neck. Streams of water around Jisoo had just finished restoring her barrier to full health. “Are the lot of you so foolish that you’d leave your enemy unsupervised?”

“What the hell do you think I’m looking at?”

Jungeun’s response was immediate, the alert spearwoman not even flinching at Jisoo’s close presence. “You think you’re the enemy I have to worry about here? This isn’t about you anymore. You’ve made this about something beyond the level of any of us.”

Jisoo’s eyes roamed back up towards Hyejoo in the building. In the next moment, Jisoo’s calm and collected expression nightmarishly warped into one of worried anxiety.

Hyejoo’s body was radiating a perceptible aura of harsh violet. The skin of her left hand was slowly turning dark gray. The sickly color spread up towards the left half of her neck, encompassing half of her face.

_Can you…save her?_

**I can salvage the chance to do so.**

_Without…killing Jisoo?_

**The slaying of the swordswoman is paramount to preventing further tragedy.**

_No…Cha_ _ewon_ _doesn’t wa_ _nt that…_

**If you allow yourself to detonate, her desires matter not.**

Hyejoo felt it. It stirred within her body as it did years ago. It was coming, and the only way to stop it would be to let go.

If she didn’t want to hurt her friends, she would have to let go.

The gray portions of Hyejoo’s skin darkened further as she cried. Imprinted onto the stretches of her decaying flesh, black pathways were fading into existence.

Her corrupted manastream was surfacing, becoming visible through her skin as it pressed upwards from underneath. It squirmed with each of her convulsive breaths through her sobbing, wriggling as if it were alive.

Tears of blood streamed down Hyejoo’s face. The end was nigh.

_Please…don’t kill her…_

**You are at your limit. Submit.**

_Chaewon…_

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      **Death approaches. Submit.**

_...I’m sorry..._

**Your resistance will be their end. Submit.**

_...I couldn’t keep my promise._

_**Submit.** _

**I submit.**

The girl of darkness stopped.

Still sitting on her bloodied knees, the gray tone of her skin and her revealed manastream began to recede. As it did, her odd eye glowed even brighter, and with it, the air around her vibrated.

A quiet, insubstantial wave of subdued energy escaped from her body. With it, a booming cacophony of hundreds of windows simultaneously shattering filled the air of the silent night. Every pane of glass on the office building had broken into thousands upon thousands of pieces. A few windows on neighboring buildings followed suit, as did those of cars on the street below.

Behind the waterfall of fragmented glass cascading down to earth in front of her, she rose to her feet at a snail’s pace with an eerie serenity. Her eyes now glued to Jisoo, she felt her functions come back to life.

The agonizing pain that tortured her was no longer present, as if it hadn’t immobilized her just moments prior. Her heart began to beat once again, each pump strong and steady. Her breathing resumed, her lungs openly welcoming each slow, deep breath of air.

Her mind, however, did not resume.

“What...what’s wrong with her? Hyejoo, was it?” Jisoo asked, unsure how to process the change in the girl’s character. She stepped forward. In response, Jungeun stepped forward herself, strangely insistent on remaining in front of Jisoo.

The swordswoman looked on with uncomfortable eyes as she witnessed a colossal mass of violet mana aggregate in front of the building. Taking the shape of steps, the dense cloud materialized into a staircase of obsidian steel. A shade of black darker than nothingness itself, it would have blended in with the veil of night were it not for the moon’s light from above.

“That’s not Hyejoo. Not anymore,” Jungeun clarified, carefully watching the girl as she started a calm, unhurried descent from the ruined building.

“What do you mean ‘not anymore?’” Jisoo parroted. “If not her, then who…?”

“You’re looking at your second mistake—the end result of keeping Chaewon and Hyejoo separated.”

Touching ground, the girl of darkness turned to the face the two as her staircase became lavender dust. She approached slowly, her steps heavy. Coming to a stop a few feet away from them, she stood perfectly still.

Her undivided attention was on Jisoo behind Jungeun. It remained as such for what felt like an eternity to Jungeun before she finally turned her head towards the woman of fire. As she spoke, her glowing eye pulsed with life.

**“Make yourself scarce, spearwoman.”**

It was Hyejoo’s voice that spoke, but with her odd eye entirely immersed in darkness and with her body’s aura as intense as it was, Jungeun would’ve known then if she hadn’t already.

“There’s no need for this, Olivia.” Jungeun asserted, standing her ground. “Kahei is performing CPR on Chaewon right now. It won’t be long.”

**“Your ignorance baffles me.”**

Jungeun’s eyes narrowed as Olivia spoke to her. Hyejoo’s alter ego remained completely still as her eyes shifted back towards Jisoo in a manner so slow that it seemed inhuman. **“The life or death situation of the cursed one’s anchor bears no influence in this particular matter. The sorceress behind you absolutely must die.”**

Jisoo flinched. Being directly addressed by what she could only call an _actual_ monster made her skin crawl. With no response coming from her, Jungeun spoke next with nothing but a clear reiteration of her words. “I said there’s no need for this, Olivia. Stand down.”

 **“Are you aware that she is part of a team that strives to halt the efforts of your organization?”** Olivia asked calmly, still locked onto a troubled Jisoo. **“If she escapes, she will only inconvenience you in the future. To allow her to live would be the single most foolish thing you could possibly do at this juncture.”**

“That’s a hell of a conclusion to jump to,” Jungeun replied with a sigh. “Didn’t even consider just capturing her and bringing her back or something? Skipping the potentially fruitful interrogation and gunning for the execution is a bit much, isn’t it?”

“Do not speak of me so candidly as if I’m not hearing every word you’re saying!” Jisoo remarked in annoyance, her eyes darting between Jungeun and Olivia. “As if I would fall victim to a plot revealed to me so openly…”

“Shut up.”

Jisoo took a reflexive step back as she found the axe end of Jungeun’s halberd inches away her chest.

Jungeun returned her extended arm to her side, puncturing the wet pavement with the tip of her polearm as she condemned Jisoo behind her. “You have absolutely no idea what you’ve gotten us into. Nothing you could possibly say can help at this point. Just stay behind me and shut up.”

**“I would suggest practicing what you preach and remaining silent yourself, spearwoman.”**

Jungeun tensed up as Olivia looked back towards her. Slowly, violet mana began to collect around her body. **“Before my presence fades—** **_if_ ** **my presence fades—I** **_will_ ** **kill this woman where she stands. She is proficient in the four elements this body is weakest to. She is a threat to both my existence and your long term goals. She** **_must_ ** **die.”**

“Keep talking like that and you’re really going to piss me off.”

Olivia’s perfectly composed demeanor was not affected by the challenging tone of the now agitated Jungeun.

Contempt was present on her face as she spoke, her crimson eye heated with anger. “You’re not possessing some lifeless vessel, Olivia. That’s not your body. It’s Hyejoo’s, which means you’re using her hands to spill blood without her consent.”

Jungeun’s odd eye glimmered with a flash of light as a column of fire erupted from a ring of vermilion mana beneath her. She took a deep breath as it subsided, emerging from it in an offensive stance with her weapon aimed towards Olivia.

“Hyejoo isn’t a killer, and I’m not gonna let you make her one.”

 **“You would defend a sorceress who stands against you and your allies?”** Olivia questioned, her neutral expression slowly growing a slight frown. **“One who struck down your own teammate? The cursed one’s anchor may never draw breath again, and it is the fault of this woman and this woman alone. Knowing this, you would stand against me and protect her?”**

“Don’t put words in my mouth, Olivia,” Jungeun countered with a growl in her voice. “I’m not defending her. The only person I’m protecting is Hyejoo.”

 **“By challenging me? Attempting to stop me by bringing physical harm to the cursed one’s body?”** Olivia asked slowly. **“You speak unintelligible nonsense.”**

“She can heal from a cut or a bruise. She can’t heal from being forced to kill someone against her will.”

**“I fail to comprehend how the cursed one could be seen as the murderer. The swordswoman’s undoing would be the result of solely my actions.”**

“You just don’t get it.”

Olivia fell silent as her reasoning was disregarded. Jungeun redirected her polearm back to her side, holding it in front of Jisoo behind her. “Maybe you’d understand if you had your own body...or maybe the concept is just beyond you. Whatever the case, I can’t let you kill her. Hyejoo wouldn’t do something like that.”

**“Why are you so devoted to maintaining the meaningless innocence of the cursed one?”**

Jungeun remained silent as Olivia scowled at her in full.

**“If an inconsequential bond of a measly two months is enough to drive you to protect her in this fashion, why are you unable realize how my plan of action will benefit her? Does her assured survival not strike you as more critical than the upholding of her personal values? How can the importance of morality persist in the face of extinction?”**

Olivia waited for a response, but it didn’t come. Jungeun and Jisoo simply stared her down, and with unblinking eyes, Hyejoo’s alter ego continued.

**“I am lead to believe that I am doing your group a favor, and to your luck, I do not care for repayment of implied debt. As long as the swordswoman lives, the cursed one will be at great risk. Even with her anchor at her side, she is weak. Thus—”**

“Don’t say another word.”

Olivia paused as Jungeun interrupted her. The anger in her eyes had evolved into venomous vexation. Her voice was hushed and her words were slow, as if she were struggling to prevent herself from exploding with fiery wrath.

“You are _not_ going to sit there in a body that isn’t even yours and call the owner weak...not when she’s one of the strongest people I’ve ever met. You don’t go through with Hyejoo experienced and walk out smiling like she did without having considerable strength.”

**“Even if such strength only arises from the presence of her anchor?”**

“Especially so!” Jungeun roared, the edges of her halberd glowing as they seared with heat.

“Relying on someone is the opposite of weakness! That’s having the strength to accept that you can’t do everything by yourself! She depended on Chaewon to hold her steady, and she even depended on you a minute ago so that she didn’t nuke this entire damn city! How is that weakness?!”

**“How is it strength if she was unable to dispose of an outnumbered threat right in front of her?”**

Jungeun’s irritation multiplied as Olivia quietly answered her with another question, her eyes almost vacant of life.

**“If she were truly strong, she would have protected her anchor as she originally promised. If her strength was truly worth praise, neither I nor the swordswoman would be standing before you right now. Our presence here is irrefutable proof of her weakness.”**

“You’re sick in the head.”

 **“And you are blind to that which is being done for the good of those you hold dear,”** Olivia remarked, unaffected by Jungeun’s statement as she continued.

**“The undeniable mark of hopeless idiocy...I will not waste precious time or energy further attempting to understand your ill-aligned mentality. With or without your approval, I will now kill the sorceress that threatens the safety of this body.”**

From within Olivia, darkness flowed outwards.

The mana around her body became more and more dense, swiftly relocating itself to her left arm. Moving her arms, she allowed the oversized jacket worn at her shoulders to fall to the ground behind her. Her mana slowly began to coalesce, and as it took shape, Jisoo shuddered.

The entirety of Olivia’s left arm slowly became coated in a black liquid. Oozing with bubbles like some sort of acid, Jisoo’s spine crawled as it melted the sleeve of Hyejoo’s shirt. Her appendage now drenched in the substance and dripping with excess, Olivia shook her hand by the wrist. The sea of lavender that drowned her eye glimmered as her arm began to reflect the moonlight above.

Starting at her fingertips and working upwards, the substance that coated her limb gradually changed from liquid to solid. By the time it reached her shoulder, it was visibly hard, her arm now covered in a sleek, perfectly fitted sleeve of reinforced obsidian steel.

Along both sides of her metallic arm, they began to form—thick uneven spikes that rose one by one like quills. A single look at them was enough to determine that their sharpness would shred through skin and flesh with zero difficulty.

Equally razor sharp claws came into existence at her fingers, their lengths and jaggedness increasing in scale. The claw of her smallest finger was no more than four inches, but the claws of her middle finger, index finger, and thumb were monstrously asymmetrical at nearly a foot in length each. Their edges were serrated, reminding Jungeun of Seulgi’s hunting knife, but far more malicious.

The manifestation of Olivia’s weapon was finalized with violet runes coming to life alongside every possible stretch of space across her arm. Looking like manic scrawlings penned by a psychopath, the symbols were frenetically disjointed with their writing styles and sizes varying madly for no discernible reason.

 **“This is the only warning I will issue, spearwoman,”** Olivia declared, lifting her arm of ebony steel and pointing her serrated index claw towards Jungeun.

**“Step aside and allow me to bring an end to the swordswoman’s life. Interfere, and I cannot guarantee your safety. Your pointless death would serve no purpose other than that of a preposterous fallacy, as the hands you are so eager to protect would simply be soaked with your own blood instead.”**

“Yeah, but then I’d never forgive myself for not stepping in and just letting you turn Hyejoo into a killer,” Jungeun reasoned. Flipping her halberd around, she repositioned it low to the ground as she bent down slightly, her eyes on Olivia’s arm. With the axe end pointed upwards, she frowned.

“Damned if I do, damned if I don’t. Gonna have to try for the best outcome here, even if it’s the least likely.”

Jungeun felt her words barely acknowledged as Olivia’s eyes slowly returned towards Jisoo.

The swordswoman held herself together as best she could, having little experience with something so plainly demonic. She asked Jungeun a simple question as streams of water came to life around her body and weapon like before. “What exactly is the plan, then?”

“The plan, er...”

“Jisoo,” the woman of water properly introduced herself, to which Jungeun nodded. Her gaze remained focused on Olivia as she continued.

“The plan, Jisoo,” Jungeun explained, “is to stay alive long enough for Kahei to save the girl you almost killed so she can restart the purification and draw Hyejoo back out.”

“And if events do not play out in such a manner?” Jisoo inquired, her grip on her rapier’s handle tightening. “What then, Jungeun?”

“You mean what happens if you’ve _actually_ killed Chaewon?”

Even though she wasn’t looking at her, Jisoo could tell the disdain present in Jungeun’s voice extended to her eyes. It was clear that she had her own words she wanted to say to Jisoo, but the far more serious problem standing in front of them made that issue unbelievably insignificant in comparison.

“In that case, karma’s gonna bite you in the ass earlier than expected, I guess,” Jungeun revealed as Olivia began to walk towards them, “because, uh…”

Jungeun held her words. She briefly contemplated answering Jisoo’s question with some sort of optimism.

With every step Olivia took, Jisoo could feel it—murderous intent aimed directly at her. She gulped as she waited for Jungeun’s response.

Unable to find any hopeful countermeasures as she stared into the bottomless violet void of Hyejoo’s odd eye, Jungeun simply came clean to Jisoo.

The severity of her claim shook the foundation of Jisoo’s mind, yet despite the situation, Jungeun was oddly calm.

“...well, realistically speaking, without Chaewon...we’re both going to die here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading! i hope you found it enjoyable. for any questions or comments outside of AO3;  
> —https://twitter.com/Helseivich  
> —https://curiouscat.me/Helseivich


	9. 「 episode 9; arc 4.1 」 —dual restitution//absolute— 「 hyejoo v 」

**「** **episode 9; arc 4.1** **」 —dual restitution//absolute— 「** **hyejoo v** **」**

Below the city, in the middle of a spiraling network of skeleton-filled catacombs, careful footsteps shuffled forward quietly. Four figures made their way through a winding path of bones and dirt, their boots occasionally crunching ancient skeletal remains of bodies long past.

At the front of the group, Joohyun lead the expedition with a firm grip on her handaxe. Though their way was lit with an array of torches nestled into the walls that surrounded them, her weapon acted as another source of light with a steady flame of vermilion dancing along its edge.

Behind her, Seungwan followed close behind. She held a sizable sword close to her body, its single-edged blade and its circular hilt both formed from the same piece of azure steel. Decorated with runes, the blade stemmed from the top of the hilt as opposed to the center, making her weapon visually similar to half of a pair of scissors.

She ran a finger across the flat end of sword, briefly looking beyond Seulgi and Joy behind her. “I can’t help but wonder what happened up there...just where did that flood suddenly come from?”

Seungwan’s open question hung briefly in the air as she stared into the thick steam that filled the hall behind them.

A unforeseen rush of water had very nearly drowned them just a minute prior, stopped only by the efforts of Joohyun and Jungeun evaporating it with collective flames before it could swallow them whole. Joy and Kahei had also made use of air to deflect the torrent away from the group, diverting the water as the women of fire dissipated it. The two foreign sorceresses wasted no time in heading back above ground afterwards, apologizing profusely before excusing themselves.

“I’m still kinda surprised that Kahei can use air-based thaumaturgy like that,” Seulgi chimed in, her eyes also moving to the dense fog of white. “She did it back at the church, too...so did Chaewon, now that I remember. I guess them being able to use multiple elements is just a thing they can do...?"

“If they really do this kind of thing regularly, exploring alternate realities and battling all sorts of miscreations, then it’d make sense for them to be capable of such a feat,” Joohyun said, bringing Seulgi’s eyes to her. "For all we know, it isn't just Kahei and Chaewon. Everyone they work with might be capable of that."

“Yeah, you’re right,” Seulgi said slowly with a nod to herself. “They probably get into way more fights than we do. Wonder how experienced they really are...hey, think they’ve got any other cool tricks up their sleeves? Maybe some kind of powered up state where they, like, break their limits or something?”

“Break their limits?” Joy mockingly teased Seulgi as she mirrored her words, roughing up the shorter girl’s hair slightly with a pat of her head. “You’ve really got to ease up on the comics and games, Seulgi.”

“C’mon, it’s not that out of the question, is it?” Seulgi pondered aloud with a soft giggle as Joy slung her arm around her. “If they’ve figured out how to use multiple elements, then don’t you think they could have some crazy trump card like that? Something that makes them even more powerful?”

“At the very least, the idea of them really coming from another universe is a lot easier to believe when they’re doing things that go against everything we know about thaumaturgy,” Joy conceded, dismissing her partner’s excitable imagination. “Or, rather, everything we thought we knew.”

“I’m still trying to wrap my head around that,” Seungwan admitted, a hint of disbelief present in her voice.

“Not that I think they’re lying after they agreed to help us regardless of our decision to join them, but a multiverse full of parallel timelines is a lot to process. The concept of actually physically crossing over into another timeline even more so…”

“Yeah, I get the feeling that all of that was the truth,” Seulgi agreed with Seungwan as she tilted her head into Joy’s shoulder, “even if it’s really hard to imagine just skipping over entire universes...”

As Seulgi found her mind getting quickly overwhelmed by the sense of scale in traversing the bubble of an entire reality, she took preventative measures against an oncoming headache and dismissed the thought. “Well, let’s just hope everything’s alright back up on the surface. It’d be nice if they could catch up to us and help out as planned.”

“If we’re lucky, they’ll be behind us again before we know it,” Joy reasoned with hope, inciting a smile and a nod from Seulgi.

“Luck runs out. We have to stop counting on it.”

A stern declaration from a quiet Joohyun brought small grimaces to the faces of the other three. As she turned a corner and stepped past a small hill of fragmented bones and broken skulls on the floor below, she brought her eyes to them and addressed them properly.

“Remember, this was always the plan from the very beginning—just the four of us. Those girls might be on another level, but don’t forget we’re more than capable in our own right. We can handle this and get Yeri back with or without their help. We’ve dealt with Red Velvet’s members plenty of times in the past. Even if there’s more than we’re used to, this’ll be no different.”

The only immediate response Joohyun received was Seungwan reaching forward and interlocking the fingers of their free hands from behind her. Joohyun reciprocated without hesitation, sighing lightly as she squeezed Seungwan’s hand.

After some silence, Seulgi spoke gingerly. “You’re not...mad at them, are you, Joohyun?”

“Of course not.”

Joohyun’s response was instant, her tone void of negativity. “They’re right to be prioritizing Chaewon and Hyejoo over us. I’m still appreciative of them going out of their way to help us, but in the end, our problems are our own and the people more important to them should undeniably take precedence. Them staying down here knowing that something might’ve happen to those two would’ve been absurd.”

“I just hope they’re safe,” Joohyun said softly as her words trailed off. “I can’t begin to even try to imagine what could’ve caused that…”

“They’ll be fine,” Seungwan reassured Joohyun. “You said it yourself. All of them are on another level, especially Kahei and Jungeun. We shouldn’t worry about any of them. I’m sure they wouldn’t want us to, anyway.”

“Eyes up.”

A sudden whisper from Joy brought the attention of the other three forward. Gazes focused on the sight ahead of them as their walking slowed down to measured paces. The bone-filled walls of the catacombs transformed into natural rock as the path opened up into a wide open cave clearing.

The four sorceresses huddled close together and got low to the floor, propping themselves on single knees as they surveyed the scene.

Several dozen figures donned in hooded robes and cloaks of deep scarlet were positioned around the area. Weapons ranging from swords to daggers to axes were affixed to their waists.

In the center of the clearing sat a titanic whirlpool of mana. The ocean of light gray dust swirled at a snail’s pace above a near bottomless sinkhole even larger than it, feeding and being fed mana to mixed leylines above it.

“Around fifty-five or sixty of them,” Seungwan murmured almost inaudibly, her eyes quickly scanning the area once more as she double checked her count. “About what we expected.”

“I don’t see Yeri,” Joohyun lamented while looking over the clearing in full again. “Where is she…?”

“Maybe down there,” Joy revealed with an extended hand, pointing towards the far end of the area across the sea of mana. “See the path past the phantadrop?”

Joohyun’s eyes followed Joy’s finger to an opening in the wall across the sea of mana. She could see scattered bones on the ground around it. The onset of anxiety that had started to cloud her head vanished with ease as she nodded. “There’s more to the catacombs, then. So she’s further in…”

“I’m sure it’s not just her,” Seulgi stated quietly. “There’s probably a good number of them guarding her.”

“What’s the plan, then?”

Joy’s question coincided with three pairs of eyes falling upon Joohyun at the front. Joohyun kept silent for a brief moment, her mind ablaze with potential plans and their likely outcomes. After jumping through several hoops in her head, she settled on a course of action.

“No choice but a full-scale battle,” Joohyun admitted, turning halfway to look at her comrades.

“We’ll just have to take them all out here...not that we weren’t prepared for that. The fighting should draw out most of the others ahead—they show up, we take them out, too. They’ll probably leave a few guarding Yeri, but it won’t be many.”

“Think she’ll be safe?” Seulgi asked with a worried expression, her eyes jumping between the other three sorceresses. “In all these years fighting them, we’ve never interrupted their prep for a sacrificial ritual before...would us intervening make them jump ahead of schedule or anything?”

“I’m actually not sure what they’d do in this situation,” Seungwan said in deep thought, her voice trailing off momentarily. “Maybe they believe an improper sacrifice would gain them no favor with their god? After going through the trouble of kidnapping Yeri and gathering everyone here, would they really risk ruining the ritual by rushing it...?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Joohyun calmly proclaimed with her eyes back on the gathering ahead. “Once we get their numbers down enough, I’ll run ahead and get to Yeri before they can even consider it.”

“By yourself?” Joy asked, her words tinged with uncertainty.

“Joohyun—”

“I’ll be alright,” the axewoman softly cut off her partner.

Underlying concern was clear on Seungwan’s face even as Joohyun did her best to assure her. “It’s best if you all stay behind. If we break off three to one, we can save Yeri as soon as possible.”

“You wouldn’t have to wait for all of them to be down,” Joy ascertained with a nod, to which Joohyun nodded herself in response. “Clear up just enough so that we can handle the rest, then go after Yeri while we finish them off. That’s definitely the fastest way to get to her, yeah...”

“Surely you could wait until there’s few enough for just two of us to finish it?” Seungwan offered, still taking issue with the concept. “That way one of us could go with you and—”

Seungwan found her words falling short as she felt Joohyun’s hand rest against her face.

She had turned around on her heel and was peering directly at Seungwan, their opposing odd eyes of deep azure and burning crimson focused on each other.

“Seungwan,” Joohyun said slowly, the pain and regret in her eyes pouring into Seungwan as she held her by the cheek. “We don’t know how much time she has left. This is the fastest option, and I need to be the one to do it. I can’t lose my little sister like this.”

Silence fell between the four of them as Seungwan became lost in Joohyun’s gaze. Her mixed hues of vermilion and light brown trembled ever so slightly. They were brimming with both an easily discernible fear of loss and a steadfast determination to prevent that loss to the best of her ability—even at the risk of her own safety.

“I can’t lose Yeri, Seungwan,” Joohyun said slowly as Seungwan failed to answer.

There was an intense weight to her words as she spoke. She was clearly in pain, and just seeing and hearing that pain alone made it manifest within Seungwan herself. “ _We_ can’t lose her. I have to get her back. I have to protect her. Every second counts.”

Seungwan’s silence briefly continued as she placed her own hand atop Joohyun’s on her cheek. She nodded slowly, pushing past her anxieties and placing faith in the woman she loved. “Okay, Joohyun. I trust you.”

“Thank you, Seungwan,” Joohyun said softly. Leaning forward, she parted Seungwan’s bangs as she did at their home. Seungwan closed her eyes as a gentle kiss was placed on her forehead. “I’ll be fine. Everything’s going to work out.”

Joohyun rose to her feet and the others followed. Turning around, she faced the path towards the clearing again. The muscles in her hand tensed up as she tightened her grip on her axe. “Be careful around the phantadrop. Being near that much phantasma that dense is going to make it hard to breathe well.”

Behind her and Seungwan, Seulgi’s odd eye of gold emitted a soft light as her hunting knife came to life in her hand from a coalescing cloud of mana. A veil of electricity surrounded it, passing towards her through the hilt and encompassing her body momentarily as she looked to the others. “Good to go, then?”

Joy’s mismatched hue of forest green began to shine in a similar fashion. A mass of verdant mana coalesced at her waist as a runic circle slowly ran across it. With a single hand, she grabbed it as it materialized—a lightweight submachine gun with a silencer attached, its black finish highlighted with accented streaks of green and matching colored runes along the barrel and grip.

Another small cloud of green dust took shape as Joy exhaled again. It birthed a magazine of ammunition in her free hand. The markswoman attached it to the bottom of her firearm and brought her eyes forward. “Good to go.”

“Whenever you’re ready, Joohyun,” Seungwan said calmly, a resolute aura stemming from her being. The conviction pouring from her words flowed into Joohyun as she took a deep breath, nodding in response.

“Alright,” Joohyun said as she stepped forward. “Follow my lead.”

 **「** **➤➤➤** **★** **➤➤➤** **」**

Jisoo could not have predicted the agility Olivia possessed.

Under new ownership, the body of the soft-spoken girl moved in a mad frenzy unbecoming of its previous consciousness. Jisoo steadied her mind to the best of her ability as it sprinted towards her with laser-focused precision. She and Jungeun responded in kind, challenging the demon after her life and running straight for Olivia.

Ahead of Jisoo, Jungeun approached first with her polearm extended. Coming into range with the axehead poised above Olivia, Jungeun slid to a stop. Planting her feet into the ground hard, she slashed downwards with an extensive degree of strength.

Jungeun clenched her teeth as she found herself immediately met with a returned force—Olivia had caught her weapon’s blade with her weaponized hand, four clawed fingers holding it steady with two digging into each side of the steel.

Jisoo continued her advance from behind Jungeun as she became locked into place. The sight of Olivia remaining entirely focused on her even as she entered an active standoff with Jungeun unsettled her greatly. In the next moment, the unease within her quickly evolved into sudden shock as she found Jungeun’s body being flung at her.

Bearing physical might beyond their expectations, Olivia had bypassed Jungeun’s firm stance.

She raised her body into the air by her weapon, Jungeun grunting loudly as she was picked up like nothing more than a toy figure. In one fluid motion, Olivia proceeded to rotate her body while rearing her arm back, effortlessly launching Jungeun’s body with forced velocity as a projectile towards Jisoo.

The entire sequence happening far too quickly for Jungeun to free herself by letting go of her weapon, the woman of fire inhaled sharply through her nose as she flew towards Jisoo. She was relieved to see that Jisoo had enough wits about her to jump away from her trajectory, allowing her to freely exhale without worry after feeling her body tick once.

An expansive, dense cloud of earthen mana came into existence ahead of Jungeun. Her vermilion eye flashed as it took shape, materializing into a sizable hill of sand. Deep enough to both stop her flight and soften the landing, Jungeun’s barrier lit up with minimal damage as she crashed into it.

From within the mountain of sand, a wave of heat burst out from around Jungeun. It dispersed the sand, freeing herself from her enclosure. Her hands still latched onto her weapon, she safely touched ground on the pavement below her and rushed towards the troubling sight ahead.

Down the road, Jisoo was fighting a losing battle against an absolutely manic Olivia.

The corrupted consciousness slashed at her repeatedly with outspread claws, the fervent fury of her nonstop strikes eerily contradicting the vacant look in her eyes. The speed of Olivia’s string of attacks were almost blinding, as if her present existence in and of itself was enough to allow Hyejoo’s body to break any limit that might have held it back.

Jisoo’s swordplay was deft and skillful enough to match each furious slice with precisely timed parries, but the difference in strength was painfully obvious. Despite her grip on it being so tight that her knuckles had gone white, every clash of blade versus claws was quickly weakening Jisoo’s grasp on her rapier. It wouldn’t be long before she was completely overwhelmed.

Sprinting towards the two with her spear close to her, Jungeun frowned as she saw Olivia turn her head ever so slightly. Her consumed eye of darkness effulged with malignance at the sight of a pesky interloper.

A silent exhale from Olivia gave birth to several runic circles of violet to the side of her, facing the approaching Jungeun. Not breaking away from her ongoing assault against Jisoo, Olivia pulled her claws back for only a moment before pivoting on her heel.

In a single maneuver, she ripped through all of her circles and simultaneously overpowered Jisoo with a roundhouse slash.

As Jisoo’s weapon fell to the ground and turned to dust, the split runic circles gave birth to an array of edged discs similar to the one that Hyejoo had summoned prior. Though they weren’t as menacingly large, the sheer number of them rapidly eclipsed the threat level of Hyejoo’s own variant.

Jungeun was now running straight into a minefield of serrated death, coming closer and closer to dozens of shadowy sawblades spinning in place with every step. Yet, in a show of courageous confidence, she didn’t slow down in the slightest.

As Jisoo nimbly avoided a downward cleave from Olivia with a dexterous somersault, the spearwoman continued her advance even in the face of a thousand cuts. Anticipating the end result of Olivia’s effect, she flipped her halberd over and ran with it close to her waist. The tip of the spear was aimed at the ground until it forcefully impaled it a second later.

Jungeun’s preparations came to fruition as the discs of darkness shot forth, flying towards her at a breakneck speed. The spearwoman lifted her weapon in response and violently brought it down, stabbing it into the earth below. Acting as a makeshift launching pole, Jungeun’s anchored halberd worked in tandem with the force she exerted upwards as she launched herself into the air.

Her vaulting maneuver resulted in a flight path with more horizontal distance than any significant altitude, but it proved to be sufficient as she soared above the flurry of rocketing projectiles beneath her. As she cleared the danger zone, Jungeun’s halberd planted into the asphalt rapidly disintegrated with the passing of a crimson circle over its length.

Her weapon reforming in her hands, Jungeun took in a considerable breath and held it as her feet touched ground once more.

The dark sawblades dematerializing behind her, she rushed ahead towards the sight of Jisoo caught in an extremely disadvantageous situation.

Without her blade, the swordswoman was forced into a endless series of hasty evasive maneuvers as Olivia attacked her without end. Her focus on ending Jisoo’s life was interminably ruthless as she moved with tremendous speed. With every panicked dodge, Jisoo searched for a still nonexistent opportunity to summon her evaporated weapon anew.

To her misfortune, however, every attempt to rearm herself was met with dashes, pounces, and zealous slashing from the corrupted consciousness’ sickly jagged claws.

Jisoo’s heart raced uncomfortably as she left her survival to the saving grace of her adept agility. For as inexplicably fleet-footed as Olivia was, Jisoo’s gymnastic capabilities weren’t at all far behind. Though she had to focus every fiber of her being to do so against an opponent of such prowess, she was finding success in her continued escape act against the claws which were so eager to tear her limb from limb.

With a forward lunge and an extended arm of obsidian, one of Olivia’s slashes had barely made contact with Jisoo as she dive rolled away from the attack. She had managed to dodge the brunt of the attack, but Olivia’s outstretched index claw had nicked her arm as she landed. Though the largely incidental scratch appeared inconsequential, Jungeun grimaced as the damage done was anything but.

Nervous distress coursed through Jisoo’s mind as her barrier materialized. It’s pristine health lasted less than a second as the entirety of her forearm became hidden by a decorated mess of deep, splintered cracks all around it—the sight of such monumentally extreme devastation stemming from a small scrape of laughably insubstantial force unsettled her to no end.

Jungeun continued her speedy approach from down the road. Her eyes were glued to Olivia, filled with insurmountable focus. She felt her body tick once, and with it, a pronounced heartbeat resonated within her chest.

As Jisoo backflipped twice in succession away from Olivia, her eyes found a sprinting Jungeun blazing past her. With labored breaths, Jisoo began to recollect herself as Jungeun engaged darkness itself with hurried steps.

Coming close to Olivia once more, Jungeun repositioned her grip on her polearm and forced herself into the spotlight. Her hands by the bottom of her halberd’s shaft, she leaned down and aimed an extended low sweep at Olivia’s legs. Hopping above it, Olivia avoided the attack with ease as she looked to Jungeun.

When their eyes met, she realized it.

Jungeun’s careful planning had predicted her reaction and taken it into account—with the spearwoman challenging her gaze and peering right back at her, Olivia saw her eye of crimson fulgurate with indignation.

Olivia’s rise into the air coinciding with the second tick of Jungeun’s manastream, the woman of fire exhaled her held breath without hesitation as she turned her halberd over.

The tip of it was aimed at Olivia above, now enshrouded in a cloud of golden mana as a matching runic circle above it took shape. Jungeun’s odd eye burned with rage as she thrust her polearm up with a grunt, piercing the circle through the middle.

A crackling storm of electricity immediately came to life around Jungeun, her weapon and body surging with an aura of red static. A tempest of thunderbolts erupted from the tip of her halberd, shooting up towards Olivia and encompassing her body.

Her barrier flashed into existence as she was covered in a coat of lightning, its vitality being chipped away by slowly expanding miniscule cracks.

Losing control of her descent, Olivia landed on wobbly feet as her body started to convulse lightly from the shocking currents ensnaring her.

Jungeun stood up straight as she shifted her stance, holding her polearm by the base of its conjoined heads with a single extended hand. She took forward steps equivalent in speed to Olivia’s gradual retreat backwards.

Jungeun was equipped with an expression of somber solemnity as she and Olivia came to a simultaneous stop. Stood in place, a regretful frown grew on her face while she watched the possessed body of her comrade writhe and shudder. Her spirit beginning to falter as she was made to inflict harm upon Hyejoo’s being, she sighed and steeled her nerves as continued to expel her torrent of bolts.

Restraining the corrupted consciousness, Jungeun turned her head halfway towards Jisoo behind her. Her narrowed crimson eye faced the swordswoman, its pained glance inciting a nod from her as she realized the opening she was presented with.

Jisoo took a deep breath behind the safety of Jungeun’s fury, a look of relative calm returning to her face as her rapier speedily materialized in her grasp once more. Alongside its reconstruction, streams of water formed around Jisoo’s forearm, sinking into her barrier as it showed itself. The dense array of fissures concealing it gradually vanished until there was nothing left.

Jisoo felt a miniscule amount of comfort settle into her mind as she finally armed herself once again. In the following moment, that very same comfort was washed over with the anxiety it had just started to replace.

A ring of violet mana had taken shape around Olivia. With her exhale, an immense wave of energy erupted from her center, rocketing down the street towards them.

Jisoo inhaled sharply as vehicles were tossed and turned over yet again with the passing of Olivia’s burst of force. The thunderstorm at Jungeun’s command came to an abrupt stop as she raised her arms in front of her and anchored her feet to the ground with shut eyes. Not feeling a force act against her, Jungeun opened her eyes with a curious blink as her hair suddenly flapped about wildly.

Gale force winds had swept in from behind the two sorceresses, challenging Olivia’s attack with equal force. Jisoo’s exhale came right before the wave had crashed into them as she willed her air currents into existence with a quick, single tick of conversion.

Her odd eye of deep azure shining with a brilliant light, the two effects effectively neutralized one another. The street returned to a tranquil standstill.

Much like every single moment of calm Jisoo had found herself in thus far, the tranquility was dismissed before she could even acknowledge its presence. Olivia had brusquely destroyed it with a frenzied break into an aggravated dash towards the pair.

The woman of fire sidestepped, adopting a defensive stance in front of Jisoo as Olivia approached from down the street.

She flinched in surprised confusion, however, as the dark being suddenly veered into an alleyway without warning and disappeared from sight.

“What…?” Jisoo stated flatly, swallowing hard in anxious anticipation as Olivia’s hurried footsteps faded from earshot. “Just what is she doing…?”

“I’m not sure,” Jungeun admitted, her eyes nervously scanning her surroundings as she began to slowly turn around. Her sight traversed the street in full, even taking in the sky above. “Be ready for anything.”

“Might you care to explain how exactly that... _thing_ is moving so quickly? And how it is so obscenely strong?” the swordswoman openly asked, her own worried eyes similarly moving about the area. “I did not imagine that girl to be capable of such extreme athleticism and strength...”

“You’re not giving Hyejoo enough credit,” Jungeun remarked with a scowl. “Olivia _is_ on a level way beyond her, though...thinking about it, there’s really only one explanation that really makes sense, I think.”

“Well?” Jisoo blurted out after a period of uncomfortable silence. Jungeun’s lack of a follow up only multiplied her stress. “Out with it!”

“I’m just speculating here, but the best way to put it is—”

Jungeun was interrupted by the sound of Jisoo shrieking in terror.

The woman of fire turned around so quickly that she could feel her head spin. She caught sight of the tail end of Olivia’s descent—the corrupted consciousness had found her way to the rooftop of a nearby building from the cover of the alleyways. When their eyes were to their front, she had leapt down at them from behind.

With her successful ambush, she had flanked Jisoo from above. With her knee striking the swordswoman’s spine and forcing her prone, she pinned her against the floor. She grabbed Jisoo’s ponytail by its base with her unaltered hand, driving her face into the pavement.

Seeing Olivia raise her obsidian arm, Jungeun’s mind raced as she restlessly calculated her best possible course of action. With the uneven edges of the demon’s sharp claws basking in the moonlight, she came to the conclusion that there wasn’t time for anything else. Moving so fast she felt a twinge of pain in her spine, she reared her body back and tossed her halberd towards Olivia.

An even louder ear-piercing scream of torment from Jisoo was the first thing that told Jungeun that she wasn’t fast enough.

Olivia didn’t hesitate. Bringing her fingers together above the center of Jisoo’s back, she silently thrust her arm downwards with immense force.

The focused point of her sharpened claws crashed into Jisoo’s shield as it materialized—the initial impact gave birth to a wellspring of cracks, and with Olivia applying severe pressure downwards, the splintered veins danced madly across the expanse of Jisoo’s body. From the single central hit, Jisoo’s defenses were already almost offline as the damage curved all over her, reaching even the tips of her toes.

Jungeun’s breathing was strained as she watched her spear come closer and closer to Olivia.

With Jisoo’s barrier on its last limbs and Jungeun’s projectile weapon fast approaching her, Olivia made her priorities crystal clear.

The fingers of Hyejoo’s alter ego dipped ever so slightly into Jisoo’s now pathetic excuse of a barrier. Penetrating the reflective surface of light that protected her body, she spread her claws outwards against its final ounce of resistance.

In the same instant that the tip of Jungeun’s spear crashed into Olivia’s shoulder and sent her flying, Jisoo’s body emitted a harsh flash of bright light as it was overridden with thousands upon thousands of interconnected fissures.

The cracks continued to multiply and expand until, with a feeble fizzle, her barrier began to fade into gray mana. Unceremoniously, the resulting dust settled onto the floor beneath them before dissolving in a similar fashion.

As Olivia was launched into the side of an overturned vehicle, Jungeun rushed towards the downed Jisoo. Her polearm materialized once more in one of her hands as she flipped Jisoo over with the other. Helping the swordswoman sit up, Jungeun inspected her clothing alongside her.

“This isn’t good…”

Jisoo’s comment was the greatest understatement Jungeun had ever heard.

The two grimaced in unison as Jisoo’s red and black dress shirt didn’t answer to a ring of water that Jisoo had summoned around her abdomen. No response came from her jet black jeans, either, confirming the worst.

“Your barrier runes are gone,” Jungeun announced with a sigh, rising to her feet and stepping in front of Jisoo. Her eyes refocused on Olivia down the street. “Looks like you’re out of commission, then.”

“Excuse me?” Jisoo retorted in shock as she clambered to her feet. “I can still—”

The swordswoman’s heart stopped briefly as she felt cold steel dig softly into her flesh. Jungeun had turned around halfway, gently pressing the edge of her halberd’s axehead to Jisoo’s throat.

With her eyes still on their enemy, she brought her polearm back to her front and spoke with a firm tone of voice. “Without your barrier against an enemy like this, it’s not a question of _if_ you’ll die, but _when._ Shut up, stay behind me, and do _not_ get in my way.”

Jisoo gulped, disquieted from the reality of feeling an actual weapon against her flesh. Her grip on her rapier tightened as her eyes found the now recovering Olivia. The demon’s barrier was in disarray with splintered veins by her shoulder, the substantial impact of Jungeun’s spear toss clearly evident. “You don’t truly believe that monster will just be happy to deal with you first?”

“Of course not,” Jungeun countered, displeased with the redundant question. “Now, more than ever, she’s going to do everything in her power to make sure you don’t live to see tomorrow.”

“And knowing this, you fully expect me to simply stay out of this conflict? Do you not realize how utterly ridiculous the very notion is?” Jisoo disputed in disbelief. “I have to help you! You can’t possibly protect me on your own, let alone keep its attention focused on you!”

“I have to. You’re going to die otherwise, and Hyejoo will be made a killer,” Jungeun replied, staunchly keeping her motivations in mind. “I’m serious, Jisoo. Don’t interfere from here on out.”

“Brilliant,” Jisoo remarked in frustration with a roll of her eyes. “How, pray tell, do you plan on accomplishing this? Can you really claim to be on even footing against this creature?”

“I can.”

Jisoo blinked.

Closing her eyes for a moment, Jungeun went silent as she took a deep breath.

When she opened her eyes again, she was met with the sight of Olivia standing perfectly still. Her eye submerged in violet was locked onto Jisoo behind her.

“It’s a last ditch effort, but I have to fight fire with fire. I have to forfeit myself just like Hyejoo did.”

Jungeun’s explanation was met with confusion from Jisoo. “What in the blazes are you talking about...?”

Ignoring Jisoo’s inquiry, Jungeun simply stared hard at Hyejoo’s alter ego down the street. Holding her polearm upright next to her with one hand, she brought her free hand to her chest.

Determination dredged with remorseful dismay settled into Jungeun’s eyes as she made a tightly closed fist.

“I’d be less worried if I had access to the third stage,” Jungeun conceded with a murmur towards herself. A small, melancholic grin showed itself on her face as she shook her head. “If I’m lucky, this’ll be the time it decides to trigger. If I’m not lucky, well…”

Jungeun raised her eyes towards Olivia again, her expression returning to neutral.

“...I’m just gonna have to hold onto my faith that it’ll all work out, because that’s all I have left.”

Jisoo flinched as Jungeun’s voice suddenly boomed. “Kahei!”

From beyond the dual walls of cement reaching high into the sky behind Jungeun, an exasperated yet diligently focused Kahei looked up towards her barricades. Her hands still atop Chaewon’s chest, their rhythmic presses downward paused as she peered ahead. Though her walls blocked her vision, she could perfectly visualize Jungeun as she spoke.

“I’m out of options here,” Jungeun said with a raised tone that carried itself to Kahei past her barriers, “so as much as I don’t want to do it, I don’t have a choice anymore.”

Kahei felt her heart stop for a moment as she frowned, her soft voice trembling with volume so low that she could barely even hear herself. “Jungeun…are you…?”

“I’m sorry, Kahei,” the spearwoman apologized with sincerity in her voice, a grimace forming on her face before she continued.

“You said both of us could be leaders who could call the shots, but even with your blessing...I still feel like I’m stepping out of line making this decision, even if it’s the only decision left to make.”

With Jungeun’s next words, a rain of anxiety began to downpour inside of Kahei’s mind. Her worried eyes returned to the motionless Chaewon in front of her as she resumed her attempts to recommence the girl’s life.

Unable of make sense of what Jungeun was saying, Jisoo was left to merely be dumbfounded with awe by the aura of tenacious indefatigability the woman of fire now exuded.

Standing perfectly still with strangely off-putting tranquility even in the face of certain death, Jungeun’s steely eyes challenged Olivia in a manner so openly confrontational that the dark being felt compelled to acknowledge her.

Shaking her obsidian wrist and flexing her monstrous claws, Olivia turned her gaze back towards Jungeun.

As Jungeun stated her intentions with an innocuous expression devoid of emotion, the asphalt beneath her began to break.

“I’m going Absolute.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading! i hope you found it enjoyable. for any questions or comments outside of AO3;  
> —https://twitter.com/Helseivich  
> —https://curiouscat.me/Helseivich


	10. 「 episode 10; arc 4.2 」 —dual restitution//pillar of faith— 「 hyejoo vi 」

**「** **episode 10; arc 4.2** **」 —dual restitution//pillar of faith— 「** **hyejoo vi** **」**

Sounds of clashing steel reverberated within the expanse of a cave clearing before being briefly muted by the clamorous boom of an explosion.

A team of four sorceresses dashed around a bloodied battlefield, odd eyes shining brightly with focused determination as they ran past with one another repeatedly. Figures clad in hooded robes and cloaks of red met their elementalism with swords, shields, axes, and maces of their own.

Though their forces outnumbered the magi greatly, their numbers were steadily dwindling as they fell one after the other.

A fountain of blood gushed into the air as a hooded man fell to his knees, his neck and chest grossly lacerated by the edge of an azure blade. Suddenly, the wavy dark blonde hair of its wielder whipped wildly. A gust of wind came from in front of her and curled around her body before sweeping an unseen assailant behind her off their feet.

Turning around, Seungwan was met with the sight of her taller comrade standing over her downed attacker. Silenced gunshots rang out, piercing the cultist’s chest and rendering their body motionless as a pool of blood grew underneath them. With a light breath, the markswoman detached an empty magazine from the bottom of her submachine gun.

“Thank you, Joy,” Seungwan said with somber appreciation.

“Stay sharp, Seungwan,” Joy replied with matching solemnity as the magazine in her hand dissolved into mana. Her verdant odd eye glimmered softly as the same cloud it dematerialized into immediately coalesced into a fresh magazine.

Reattaching it to her firearm, Joy brought her eyes to Seungwan. “Joohyun’s got enough on her plate worrying about Yeri. Least we can do is finish this off without a scratch on you so she doesn’t have to worry about her girlfriend, too.”

Seungwan felt the cold steel of her half-scissor blade as she tightened her grip on its circular hilt. Nodding in response, another deafening explosion shook the area before she could reply in full.

Across the impossibly thick whirlpool of light gray mana which spun slowly above a monumental sinkhole in the center of the cave, a handaxe was tossed into the stomach of a sword-wielding cultist. Joohyun’s eye of fire flashed with vehement anger as she exhaled sharply through her nose, inciting an explosion of flames from within their flesh.

Joohyun’s face was splattered with her target’s blood as their abdomen burst open. The cultist fell to the floor face-first, charred skin and burnt organs sizzling loudly as they spilled out. Scanning the area, she felt her handaxe take shape in her grasp once more upon its complete dissipation—there were only two or three dozen cultists left, and they were falling at a consistent rate.

“Seulgi!”

Joohyun’s call was not immediately answered. The spry woman of electricity across the field was in the middle of an evasive cartwheel, dodging a staggered assault of three of Red Velvet’s members.

As their blades missed her body, Seulgi propped herself into a handstand with a steady breath, runic circles of gold forming the outline of a sphere above her.

In a show of upper body strength, the muscles in her arm tensed up as she pushed herself off the ground and rose into the air.

Positioned in the center of her sphere of circles at the apex of her ascent, she cavorted energetically within her planet of runes. From the inside of it, she slashed the circles to pieces while spinning every which way.

Landing cleanly on her feet, she seamlessly transitioned into a series of backflips towards Joohyun as her effect manifested. An electrified rush of chain lightning spread downwards, incapacitating her three foes with unsafe amounts of voltage.

“Heading further in?” Seulgi asked as her attackers succumbed to her effect, their bodies convulsing wildly on the ground. She joined Joohyun in surveying the remaining numbers of the opposing army while wiping sweat off her forehead with a convalescent breath. “Looks like a pretty safe amount for the three of us to handle.”

“I’m sure you three can take care of them, yeah,” Joohyun ascertained, her eyes finding Seungwan and Joy across the manachasm.

The two had just dispatched another three cultists, covering one another without issue. “There haven’t been reinforcements from further in since the first wave of them. Whoever’s left must be guarding Yeri.”

“Time for the Joohyun solo mission, then!” Seulgi commented with a grin, flipping her knife in her hands. “We’ll finish these guys off and catch up to you as soon as we can!”

The pair exchanged a nod before heading in separate directions.

Seulgi bolted across the clearing to towards the women of water and wind while Joohyun headed towards the opening of a narrow path nearby. Before she ducked into it, however, she found herself turning around.

Her gaze fell upon Seungwan deflecting the strikes of a larger foe with careful timing and prudent positioning. Her enemy suddenly shifted his stance, adopting a two-handed grip on his sword as he slashed downwards at her. With grace, Seungwan avoided the attack with a reactive sidestep and ran her sword through his heart.

As his lifeless body slid down the length of her blade, she pulled it out of his chest while kicking him forwards. Her enemy dispatched, she searched for her next target. Instead, she met eyes with Joohyun across the area.

Thick drops of blood dripped from Seungwan’s sword. Swatting the air in front of her with it, she cleansed her steel of its sins as she peered at Joohyun across the manapool.

Silently, she gave her a slow nod.

The image of Seungwan’s unflinching perseverance burned itself into Joohyun’s mind as she nodded back.

Turning around, the axewoman disappeared into the rocky crevice in pursuit of her sibling. Upon seeing her figure fully vanish, Seungwan engaged her next enemy without hesitation.

Locked in a standoff against another sword-wielding cultist, the sound of clashing steel ricocheted in Seungwan’s ears as each of her slashes were met with equal force. Seeing Seulgi barreling towards her for an oncoming assist, Seungwan took a quick breath as her eye of azure emitted light.

In the air behind her current target, a moderately sized horizontal runic circle of deep blue came to life from Seungwan’s mana. With both of his hands occupied in holding his hefty claymore, the cultist was left with no immediate answer to Seungwan repositioning her sword and sliding it down against the edge of his own.

Turning sideways and coming closer to her opponent, Seungwan brought her sword to the cross-guard of the cultist’s claymore. She gained control of his stance as she forced it into the corner created by the base of her blade and the curve of its circular hilt.

His grasp on his blade weakening, Seungwan exerted force downwards as she overpowered him with a surprising display of physical strength.

His weapon knocked out of his hands, the cultist stumbled backwards from the struggle as his sword clattered to the ground. Before he could think of his next move, Seungwan stepped forward and planted the sole of her boot against his stomach.

Shoved backwards, the cultist fell to his side and landed right underneath Seungwan’s circle of runes. Looking to her right, Seungwan witnessed a female cultist equipped with a mace poised to strike Joy a few feet away.

With a short sprint, she came to Joy’s side just in time and raised her half-scissor blade, meeting her foe’s weapon in full and entering another standoff.

Seungwan heard a subdued gunshot ring out as she held off Joy’s assassin. From behind her, Joy had shattered her runic circle with a clean shot through the center, breaking it into pieces. Her odd eye shined once again as her effect manifested.

The cultist she disarmed found himself suddenly drenched as he staggered to his feet, enveloped in a torrential downpour of pressurized water. It battered down harshly against his body, dropping him back down to the floor and preventing him from standing.

In the next moment, two voices cried out in agonized unison.

The first belonged to the mace-wielding woman locked into place with Seungwan as Joy turned her sights to her. Seungwan stepped back as their foe collapsed onto the ground, a spray of ammunition unloaded into her side. With Joy turning around to engage another approaching figure, Seungwan finished the job and plunged her raised sword directly into the woman’s chest.

The second screech of pain came with the sound of crackling electricity.

Capitalizing on Seungwan’s and Joy’s efforts, Seulgi continued the combination attack as she approached her allies. With a quick breath, a row of vertically standing runic circles materialized ahead of her. With her knife extended outwards, she cleaved the gold circles in a straight line as she dashed parallel to them.

Successive bolts of lightning from each severed shape curved around Seulgi and flew forward in a staggered pattern, careening into Seungwan’s waterfall. The cultist trapped inside was subjected to a prison of lightning as Seungwan’s water became a conductor for Seulgi’s electricity. His incessant screams of suffering continued for a brief moment until they came to a stop.

The two effects came to an end as Seulgi neared Seungwan and Joy. The whirlpool of bolts faded away, revealing a lifeless figure with burnt robes laying on its back. Coming to a stop near her comrades, Seulgi turned around as the three backed into one another, covering each other’s flanks.

The cultists formed around them in a wide circle, weapons at the ready as they kept their distance. Joy surveyed their foes with calm, steady eyes while materializing a fresh magazine of ammo. “They’re dedicated, gotta give ‘em that much. You’d think some would run away after seeing what we’re doing to them, but they’re all still here…”

“They’re pretty damn determined, yeah,” Seulgi agreed with a grimace.

A wave of static encompassed her body as she idly flipped her knife in her hands. She peered at a hammer-equipped cultist slowly making his way towards her. “It’d be a lot more admirable if that dedication wasn’t focused on hunting down innocent thaumaturges...”

“Let’s finish this quickly,” Seungwan cut in, holding her blade steady at her waist. “The less time Joohyun has to spend fending for herself, the better.”

Seungwan’s call to action was answered with silent nods from Seulgi and Joy. As they locked onto their new targets, they charged forward, resolve burning within their souls.

Deeper inside the caves, the walls surrounding Joohyun slowly transformed into a hallway of hardened soil with human bones and skulls embedded within them.

Now in the catacombs proper once more, her footsteps were quick yet quiet. She had left earshot of the battle not long ago—exploring the underground network in ghostly silence, her mind was left to imagine how her companions were faring.

Lead by burning torches on the walls, the axewoman continued through the cavern with a surge of trepidation flooding her heart. Every step further she made into the depths of Red Velvet’s base of operations amplified her underlying fear about her sister’s safety.

Though she did a good job of masking it in the presence of the others, anxiety had been terrorizing her mind ever since Yeri’s kidnapping. As the oldest of the group by several years, she had long been declared their unofficial leader. It was a notion that made Joohyun feel she was in no position to show weakness.

Trudging through what could potentially become Yeri’s graveyard by herself, however, was now breaking her strength.

Doubt clouded Joohyun’s mind, and it was with a quivering breath that she dispelled the worried thoughts consuming her as best she could. She wasn’t sure what to expect. She could only hope it wasn’t too late.

The only thing Joohyun knew for sure was that they had a safe haven waiting for them.

Even if it was universes away, and even if part of her still didn’t entirely believe the idea...she had no choice but to accept it as truth. It was the only option they had left—the only way to guarantee Yeri’s safety for the rest of their life.

A focus on the security of their future home relaxed Joohyun, even if only slightly. It eased her mind for a moment, but as she turned a corner, her focus recentered on a sight both immensely relieving and utterly horrifying.

Down the bone-coated hallway, the path opened up into a circular clearing. Much smaller than the previous battlefield, three figures cloaked in red were present. The tallest one by a fair margin, a man with broad shoulders, paced around a structure at the center of the room. The other two stood next to one another close to the centerpiece of the area, not far from one of several pillars that spanned the clearing.

On the central structure, guarded by the pacing cultist, a girl equal in height to Joohyun was restrained—Yeri.

Fighting an instinct to burst into a dash, Joohyun played it safe in the interest of Yeri’s life and backed up behind the corner. Getting down on one knee, she craned her head beyond the wall and studiously analyzed the situation in full.

Yeri was affixed to a giant wooden cross planted in the middle of the area, bound by rope at her wrists and ankles. A bundle of cloth was tied around her mouth, preventing any attempt at vocalizing distress. Given that no one would ever even hear such a thing several stories below the city, Joohyun found herself annoyed at the fact that it was still on her.

The obvious implication that Red Velvet likely wanted nothing more than to silence Yeri’s crying brought about the agitated grinding of Joohyun’s teeth.

Joohyun’s eyes traveled upwards. She looked upon her little sister’s face, and with the sight of it, her heart sank as her nails slowly dug into the handle of her axe.

Yeri wore a tired expression of defeat.

She stared at the ground below her with emotionally drained hollow eyes of light brown. Her short, neck-length auburn hair was messy and roughed up, and there were stains of dried tears set about her cheeks. It was clear that she struggled, but it appeared that after a period of time, she never bothered to resume her resistance.

Even if she was alive and well with no outwardly visibly bodily harm done to her, the empty look in Yeri’s eyes told Joohyun all she needed to know. Out of exhaustion and fear, she had given up. With no physical movement whatsoever and her head hung low, she had submitted to her captors.

Seeing her little sister—normally one of the happiest, brightest people she had ever known—devoid of life and ready to die...Yeri must have truly believed she was doomed to meet her end. Joohyun’s eyes narrowed as she shifted her view to the trio of cultists defending their quarry.

They had managed to end her life before even attempting to kill her.

Joohyun bit her lip hard in exasperated frustration.

The realization of it gave birth to new flames of even further unbridled resentment towards Red Velvet in Joohyun’s soul. More than ever before, the sight of them now filled her with disgusted abhorrence.

Her gaze found Yeri again before her mind settled on one thing and one thing only.

“You’re not dead yet, Yeri,” Irene spoke in a hushed whisper as her crimson mana took its place on the edge of her axe. “Don’t give up.”

Steeling her nerves, Joohyun proceeded around the corner and down the skeleton-ridden path. Coming into the clearing, she snuck behind the rocky pillar closest to her and brought her head to the side of it.

“Are they still waiting on people or something? Why haven’t they come to pick her up yet?”

One of the two cultists away from Yeri posed an open question to the figure next to him. The other cultist brought a finger to their chin.

A woman’s voice answered. “It is pretty strange...I wonder if something happened?”

“Like what?”

The woman didn’t answer the man’s question immediately. She tilted her head curiously. Unseen to Joohyun beneath the cover of her hood, a frown had spawned on her face. “Wonder if they showed up…”

“They? You don’t mean…?”

“Just a possibility,” the woman reasoned. She shifted her view upwards to look at Yeri.

“Could be any number of things, I guess, but...well, you know who we’re dealing with here. After how long we’ve spent hunting them, maybe they’ve become the type to return that favor and trail us here themselves. Who knows?”

“You can’t be serious,” the male cultist disagreed in disbelief with a shake of his head. “You understand what that would mean, right? If they came here, then…”

“...our brothers and sisters at the phantadrop are no doubt crossing into the afterlife as we speak.”

The pair turned their head in surprise as the sentry pacing around Yeri suddenly spoke up.

He had paused his dutiful guard of their prisoner, standing in front of her and looking up directly into her eyes. Yeri didn’t acknowledge his glance in the slightest, her downcast hues of hazel gazing right through him.

Joohyun’s eyes and ears were at attention as she crept to the next closest pillar, inching closer to the group.

“Maybe, maybe not,” the woman indecisively stated with a single hand on her hip. “Most of our branch is in attendance tonight. We’re talking seventy, eighty of us. That’s one hell of a home advantage.”

“An advantage that pales in comparison to the demonic arts that thaumaturges are capable of unleashing upon the world,” the sentry countered, his voice low and his words heavy as he turned to face his conspirators.

“The wretched hellspawn connected to this girl are some of the most worthwhile adversaries our family has ever faced. The proficiency they bear with their cursed powers is beyond most of their ilk. Why do you think we hunt them so? Their mere existence poses a serious threat to our continued endeavors.”

“You’re making it sound like we don’t stand a chance against them,” the male cultist worriedly whined with crossed arms.

“Because we don’t,” the sentry declared conclusively. “Such was the entire purpose of resorting to this kidnapping. In combat, they are far too powerful with each other at their backs. Dealing with them individually is the only way to handle the discrepancy in our fighting capabilities.”

“If only you put even a fraction of the faith you hold for our beliefs into our family instead,” the woman said with resentment. “You know how strong we are when we work together. How can you think we really don’t stand a chance?”

“The reality in front of us divulges all—an hour has passed since the appointed time for the sacrifice, and yet the girl still draws breath.”

The three fell silent after the sentry spoke, reminding the other two of the initial reason for their discourse. Joohyun slipped closer still, taking cover behind the next closest pillar.

The discomforting silence hung in the air for a moment until it was broken by the sound of steel scraping against the inside of a scabbard. Unsheathing a shortsword attached to his waist, the sentry turned back towards Yeri. His fingers slowly crawled along the edge of his blade, slithering down the length of it almost inquisitively.

“Perhaps it would be best to do it myself.”

Joohyun’s eyes widened. The pair behind the sentry took a step forward each. The woman’s voice boomed with disapproval. “Are you out of your mind?! What are you thinking?!”

“Slow down, alright?!” the man next to her said in similar protest, taking another step forward. “You can’t just abandon the rites of sacrifice! Her death will be completely wasted if we don’t follow the due processes!”

Joohyun’s turbulent fury momentarily spiked. The insinuation that Yeri’s life was a mere resource which could be incorrectly spent drove her mad beyond measure. Her vermilion eye began to flare with scintillating refulgence, but the light pouring from it quickly dimmed.

With a quiet, excruciatingly slow breath through her nostrils, Joohyun calmed herself. The time to strike had not yet arrived.

“Do not speak to me as if I do not understand such a basic principle!” the sentry roared as he turned around again. His arm was outstretched, the tip of his sword lined up with the center of the man’s forehead.

“So you would willingly ruin a sacrifice?”

The woman’s words were slow, her entire being offended and revolted by the concept alone. “Forget what I said! You don’t care for our beliefs at all!”

“A botched ritual ignored by our revered God is a small price to pay to secure the worth of what we believe in!” the sentry claimed as he raised his sword to the sky. “If this demon’s family has truly come to save her, then we must erase her existence before they can do so!”

“We still don’t know that for sure!” the male cultist contested. “We just need to wait! Or we could even go check ourselves! Just give it a rest already!”

“The time of passing for the life of this filthy thaumaturge has already swept us by, and the mere possibility of her family interrupting this is too great a threat. We must rid the world of her impure soul before the opportunity to do so is stolen from us.”

The sentry’s proclamation came with him turning back around to face Yeri.

The helpless girl didn’t even so much as flinch as his sword neared her frame, its tip dangerously close to the center of her chest. Joohyun nearly leaped out of her cover on reaction alone, but the sound of two more swords unsheathing held her back.

“...I see.”

An almost inaudible whisper left the sentry’s lips as he slowly turned back around. He was face-to-face with the pair of cultists both pointing blades of their own at him, seemingly eager to defend against what they perceived to be disrespectful sacrilege.

Silently, the sentry took a step forward, his towering frame looming above the two shorter cultists. In a display of nervousness, their apparent courage proved to be false as they reflexively stepped back. They stepped back once more as he stepped forward again, and then yet again.

With every inch of space that grew between them and Yeri, Joohyun was finally graced with the beginnings of the opening she had been waiting for. As they continued their slow path away from her sibling, the axewoman advanced behind the cover of the pillars, staying as close to them as she could manage.

For the first time in hours, with the sight of a shadow stepping across her vision, Yeri lifted her head.

Now near the far end of the clearing, the pair found themselves with their backs against the wall. The sentry peered at them with a judgmental glare and a vexed frown underneath his hood.

“Spineless rats. You challenge that which is being done to defend your faith with a proud display of misplaced bravery only to avoid the resulting conflict while you tremble in terror? You sicken me.

“Faith is the pillar to belief—its foundation. But, like any foundation, it can be destroyed if we are not careful,” the sentry lectured with a sigh as he slowly extended his blade, the point of his steel meeting both of theirs. “Should the foundation of belief fall to ruin, then those beliefs equally fall. They will amount to nothing. To protect your faith is to protect the worth and validity of your beliefs.

“The good of erasing cursed thaumaturges far outweighs the sin of sacrilege, for it stops our faith from crumbling to dust!” the sentry proclaimed while suddenly slashing downwards.

The pair of cultists flinched as their blades were sent flying. Left defenseless against the pious sentry, they looked up to him with quivering eyes as he pressed on.

“Our faith rests in the extinction of thaumaturges! They are blights against humanity that our revered God commands us to rid this world of! Sacrificial rites lose all meaning if upholding them would result in a thaumaturge escaping the death they deserve!

“With their death, our faith is defended! With our faith defended, our beliefs stand unchallenged on their pillar, remaining something worth devoting ourselves to!” the sentry threateningly shouted with pride. “The sin of sacrilege matters not if it prevents the downfall of our faith and thus prevents the collapse and devaluation of our belief system!”

The sentry’s now boisterous voice came to a gradual stop as he stared at the two frightened cultists. When no response came from either of them, his voice reverberated in the cave once more.

“Now that you understand, do not interfere. I will stand tall as I sacrifice my future in our Heaven. I will do what you cannot and endure the sin of sacrilege.”

Despite the claim the sentry made as he turned around, he was no longer standing.

The gut-wrenching sound of flesh ripping apart echoed in the clearing as a flaming handaxe flew through the air. It tore through the sentry’s hood, cleaving his temple with significant force. The skin of his mutilated skull began to burn as he fell on his side. His robes caught fire and spread down his frame until he was covered in a blanket of flame.

In perplexed shock, the two cultists hastily ran from the sentry’s now collapsed body. Coming closer to the center of the area, their eyes scanned their surroundings with a troubling sense of urgency. In contrast to their gazes taking in everything around them, Yeri regained life as she focused on the axe lodged into the sentry’s skull.

As it turned to dust, she began to frantically search the area with newly invigorated eyes.

Before the pair of cultists could fully grasp the situation, Joohyun made her move. With a long exhale, her mana began to take shape around the feet of the woman. For all of their thorough scanning of the area, they mistakenly paid no mind to the ground below them.

Her axe taking shape in her hand once more, Joohyun’s eye glowed softly as a small runic circle materialized in front of her. Wordlessly, she raised her axe and pressed the edge of its blade into the center of it.

Joohyun didn’t flinch as she watched the woman become engulfed in a vortex of swirling fire. Even as her prey cried for help while being burnt alive, she was calmly silent. As her flames dispersed, the cultist fell to the ground, her body charred and motionless.

Feeling a presence on her, Joohyun turned her head back towards her captive sibling.

Yeri had found where she was hiding and was staring right at her with wide eyes.

The remaining cultist took notice of where Yeri was looking. His eyes following hers, he was met with the sight of two things. First, Joohyun stepping out from behind the pillar she was using as cover, confidently revealing herself in full.

The second sight he took in was the axe that she hurriedly tossed forward, spinning wildly in the air towards his unprepared face with great speed.

Joohyun took a deep breath as she watched the edge of her steel split his forehead clean open. His face, frozen in fear with a horrified expression, was drenched with deep crimson from the fountain of blood that was expelled outwards. As the downpour turned his head red, his blood splattered against Joohyun, joining the dried remnants of her previous engagement.

The final moments of his life were spent in pained silence as he fell to his knees before collapsing backwards. As he joined his twisted family in whatever second life they believed was waiting for them after death, Joohyun’s axe dissipated into scarlet dust.

Every present threat handled and accounted for, Joohyun hurried towards Yeri and began to free her from her bindings. She hurriedly undid the ropes that held her legs together, followed by the ones at her wrists. Her limbs free, Joohyun helped her down to the ground before removing the cloth tied around her mouth.

“Yeri, I—”

Before Joohyun could even finish her thought, Yeri fell forward into her arms.

Joohyun felt a bewildering mixture of relief and sorrow take root in her mind as Yeri released the emotions she had forced herself to suspend. She sobbed loudly into her older sister’s chest. Joohyun held onto her tightly and felt Yeri clutch onto her back, the younger girl seemingly worried that her sister might vanish into thin air.

For a moment that felt like an infinite amount of eons, the sisters remained still in their embrace. The only sound was that of Yeri’s muffled weeping while Joohyun gently ran calm, loving fingers through locks of her hair.

“I w-wasn’t...I wasn’t sure if I’d ever see you again, Joohyun...”

Through the last of her tears, Yeri’s voice was weak and frail. She looked up to her older sister with a sniffle as she wiped her cheeks while pulling away from her. “I thought...I thought I was going to—”

“Did they hurt you?” Joohyun asked softly, politely cutting Yeri off in a tender manner as her eyes scanned her body.

“No, they didn’t do anything serious,” Yeri answered, her voice slowly regaining composure. The sight of Yeri’s long sleeved shirt of white and jeans of bright blue being merely disheveled supported her claims. Joohyun’s eyes met Yeri’s once more. “After they grabbed me and dragged me here, they just put me on that cross and left me there all day…”

Joohyun fell quiet. A warm feeling of long-awaited solace was finally beginning to supersede everything else present in her mind. Gazing upon the sight of her sister safe and sound compelled her to smile beyond her control. Inundated with joy, she felt her eyes welling up as she placed a hand on Yeri’s cheek.

Yeri’s exhausted frown gradually reversed as she witnessed the onset of her sister’s happiness. A smile of her own slowly took shape.

With one hand atop Joohyun’s own on her cheek, Yeri brought her other hand to Joohyun’s face. She quietly wiped away the tears that fell from her older sister’s eyes, and with it, they briefly hugged once more as the reality of their safety finally set in.

Separating again, a tense silence fell between the siblings as Yeri’s attention wandered to the slain cultists. Joohyun’s smile faded as she watched Yeri stare at their corpses quietly. With downcast eyes, her younger sister appeared to be in deep thought.

Yeri felt the tips of Joohyun’s fingers on her chin. The axewoman gently redirected the younger girl’s head back towards her. “I’m sorry you had to see that, Yeri. You don’t have to look at it.”

“You’re wrong, Joohyun. It’s something I should see.”

Joohyun felt her stomach turn as Yeri reasoned against her with calm maturity beyond her years. “If it hasn’t stopped now, it’ll never stop...I should’ve realized it a long time ago, but you guys are the only ones I can trust.

“Seeing their bodies...seeing their blood,” Yeri remarked contemplatively, her hand reaching for the fresh stain of red on Joohyun’s cheek. She slowly ran her thumb across the viscous liquid with her eyes still locked onto her older sister’s as she pressed on.

“It just makes me realize how naive I was all of those times I hung out with my friends, thinking I was safe. This kind of thing could’ve happened at any time. I’m only really safe when I’m with all of you.”

“Yeri, don’t you dare apologize,” Joohyun commanded with benign authority, her hands holding Yeri by the shoulders. “You did nothing wrong. You deserve to live a normal life.”

“It doesn’t matter what I deserve,” Yeri swiftly negated to Joohyun’s surprise, lambasting herself with overt selflessness.

“It’s too dangerous, Joohyun. It doesn’t matter if I’m what everyone else considers normal. The people I care about most aren’t normal, so that means I’m not either. That’s how Red Velvet sees it, anyway, so I need to act like it. If I don’t, I’m just going to get in danger again.”

Joohyun’s stomach turned further. Yeri’s experience with Red Velvet had caused her to toss her humanity aside, instilling the thought that she wasn’t allowed that which was rightfully hers. The god forsaken cult that had hunted them down for years had finally gotten to Yeri, driving her to think she was something she wasn’t.

It sickened Joohyun to her core. However, for as furious as she was with their discrimination against her kind and the ill effects their never-ending hunts were posing on her sister, Joohyun was oddly calm.

She shook her head with a light sigh, a small smile present on her face. “Yeri...it’s alright. You don’t have to pretend to be something you’re not. You don’t have to give up on the experience of living your life how you want to.”

“But Red Velvet—”

“Red Velvet doesn’t matter anymore.”

Yeri blinked in surprise towards a statement she interpreted as purely asinine.

Words failed her as she addressed her sister. “Huh? What do you mean they don’t matter? How could they not? They...they’re...”

“Definitely not a problem where we’re headed.”

A familiar voice rung out as Yeri’s words trailed off, bringing the gazes of the siblings to its source behind them.

From the hallway that Joohyun had entered, Seulgi was approaching with Joy and Seungwan close behind. Similar to Joohyun, they wore new scars of battle in the form of scattered blotches of cultist blood visible on their faces and clothes.

Joohyun’s smile widened as she watched Yeri run towards the woman of electricity. Seulgi’s beaming grin was positively radiant as she picked up the shorter girl with a giggle, spinning around with her in a close hug. Releasing her as Joy and Seungwan caught up, Yeri was quick to embrace each of them as well.

The proper return to form for Yeri’s bright smile and cheerful demeanor gave rise to a comforting mellow warmth within Joohyun. The hopeless dread that was set about her face not even minutes ago while she hung from Red Velvet’s cross...she wanted to never again be in a position where Yeri would even have a reason to bear such an expression.

“You on board, then?”

Joohyun’s question collectively settled on Seulgi as Yeri stood by Seungwan’s side after her embrace with her. The four looked to Joohyun as she crossed her arms. An almost playful smile claimed its throne on her face.

“I don’t really recall ever saying we weren’t going with you, Joohyun,” Seulgi teased with an even brighter smile. It extended to Joy and Seungwan, leaving Yeri as the only one stuck in confusion as her eyes wandered between the older women. “It was never even a question. We’ll follow your lead like always, yeah?”

“Wait, what are you guys talking about?”

Yeri peeped curiously, stepping between the four sorceresses. She looked between them with cautious apprehension before her eyes fixated on Seulgi, parroting her claim. “You guys found somewhere we can go where Red Velvet won’t bother us…?”

“Yeah, assuming we don’t turn into space dust or something on the way there,” Joy remarked half-jokingly. She scratched the back of a head with a shrug and a sheepish chuckle as the others looked to her with smiles. “Hey, I don’t know what travel between entire realities involves!”

“Entire realities…?”

Yeri’s confusion doubling over, Seungwan laughed softly as she waved a dismissive hand towards the teenager. “It’s better if we let Kahei and the others explain it to you. I’m sure Seulgi could do with listening to the lecture again, as well, given how she nearly dozed off during it.”

“Damn, is that how it is?” Seulgi quipped with feigned sadness to a smiling Seungwan. “Brutal...but accurate.”

“What others? Who’s Kahei?” Yeri chimed back in, her unceasing curiosity demanding answers.

The only response she received was a gentle push towards the exit from Joy. “This cliffhanger won’t last long for you, Yeri. Let’s get out of here.”

As footsteps began to shuffle, one pair slowly came to a stop. Three others stopped shortly after.

“Joohyun?”

Seungwan’s voice called out across the clearing towards a detached Joohyun. The axewoman was standing in the center of the area, her eyes oddly fixated on the broad-shouldered sentry whom she had slain first.

Worried silence set the stage as Seulgi, Joy, and Yeri looked between Seungwan and Joohyun.

The woman of water returned their glance with a small nod, motioning them to go on ahead for the time being. As Yeri was ushered forward by Seulgi and Joy, Seungwan slowly approached Joohyun.

“Faith is the pillar of belief…”

As she repeated the sentry’s words, Joohyun felt Seungwan intertwine their hands. Her significant other had come to a stop next to her, taking in the sight of Joohyun’s handiwork alongside her.

“We’ve killed a lot of them over the past twelve years.”

“Yes, we have.”

Seungwan’s response to Joohyun’s statement was quietly curt. She felt Joohyun gently squeeze their interlocked fingers. She returned the action without hesitation.

The sound of nothing interrupted their light conversation. Joohyun’s eyes shifted towards the wooden cross that Yeri was bound to for nearly an entire day. Seungwan’s gaze followed.

“What do you believe in, Seungwan?”

“The idea that we’ve done nothing wrong,” Seungwan answered Joohyun peacefully, wistful eyes moving towards the love of her life next to her. “Everything Red Velvet’s done to us...we didn’t deserve any of it.”

Joohyun paused, her focus falling upon the three fallen cultists. “Does that mean they deserve what we did to them?”

“I don’t think you should be looking for an answer to that question, Joohyun.”

Seungwan’s words hung in the air for a moment as she joined Joohyun in gazing upon the bloodied remains of those who sought to bring them harm. “Deciding on an answer to that question might result in a change of what you hold faith in, Joohyun. That, in turn, would change you.”

“I shouldn’t try to find an answer because it might change who I am?”

“You shouldn’t try to find an answer because you might not be ready,” Seungwan corrected Joohyun softly. Joohyun fell silent as she continued. “It doesn’t matter what good it might bring...if you aren’t prepared to fully accept change, then you’ll never truly change. You’ll just be the same person you always were while falsely masquerading as someone else.

“It would make you a liar, Joohyun,” Seungwan said quietly. “You’d just be deceiving everyone around you, but most of all, you’d be deceiving yourself.”

Her words stung Joohyun uncomfortably, and Joohyun knew it hurt because of the truth behind them.

“But then, even if you are prepared, you have to make sure you aren’t in a position where you shouldn’t change to begin with,” Seungwan proceeded, giving Joohyun further insight into her personal philosophy. “Sometimes you can only help the people who rely on you _because_ of who you are, even if you’re someone you don’t want to be. Sometimes…”

Seungwan’s voice disappeared. It made itself audible again with a small sigh after a ruminative pause.

“...the person you don’t want to be is the person you _need_ to be.”

Joohyun’s downcast eyes descended upon the fallen sentry once again as she processed Seungwan’s words with deep consideration. The silence of the clearing brought her attention to the sound of her beating heart.

“I never wanted to become someone who could end a life without hesitation just as easily as they could.”

With respect, Seungwan allowed Joohyun to impart the thoughts she felt compelled to share.

“Doesn’t matter if it’s just a faceless miscreation, but killing a living, conscious thing...just makes me feels like I’m no better than them,” Joohyun’s voice trembled slightly with a shake of her head. “But I have to tell myself I am, that my actions are justified, because if I don’t...I can’t protect you. I can’t protect Yeri. I can’t protect any of us, and I absolutely have to.

“I _absolutely_ have to,” Joohyun repeated in a lower tone as she revealed the true intensity of her feelings, summoning Seungwan’s eyes to her.

To her surprise, Joohyun was already looking at her, her mixed eyes alive with resounding steadfastness.

“After what they put us through, you guys were all I had left. I couldn’t live with the thought of losing any of you, so protecting you no matter what became the core of my belief system. Even if I had to kill, the faith I placed in the pursuit of finding us a safe place to call home let me believe that I was justified in killing. It let me believe that I was at least better than Red Velvet.

“But now that we’ve accomplished that goal and have likely guaranteed a life of peace from here on out...it’s making it difficult to continue seeing it like that,” Joohyun lamented. “I placed my faith in securing our future, and now that we’ve done so, that faith no longer has reason to be.”

Joohyun’s eyes slowly shifted back to the sentry, his words ringing in her mind as she echoed them.

“Should faith, the foundation of belief, fall to ruin, then those beliefs equally fall. They will amount to nothing...if my belief that I was justified in killing them loses worth, then how am I anything but a murderer?”

“And that’s why you want to know if they deserved to die.”

Seungwan’s words came after a moment of deliberate thought, her pensive eyes still attached to Joohyun. Her partner nodded quietly.

“If they deserved to meet their end, your actions are justified and you’ve done nothing wrong,” Seungwan deduced with a nod. “If they didn’t deserve it, then you see yourself as a murderer and you would want to change…

“Joohyun,” Seungwan resumed after a short pause. A somber smile manifested on her face as she looked into Joohyun’s eyes. “Do you think you’re prepared for that? To change who you are?”

“Once I can make absolutely sure that we aren’t threatened by anything, I think I would be,” Joohyun admitted. Her confidence had trails of hope hidden behind it.

“Joohyun,” Seungwan repeated. “Do you think you’re in a position to change who you are? Would the people depending on you be safe if you changed? Is the person you are right now the person they need you to be?”

The question cooked in Joohyun’s mind for what felt like hours. As the axewoman remembered the discussion with the four foreign sorceresses at length, she shook her head.

“I see,” she said quietly, inciting a shift in the tone of Seungwan’s smile. “We aren’t quite out of the woods yet, are we?”

“We aren’t,” Seungwan agreed. “The man they spoke of, YG, poisoning the phantasmal pathways across all of creation...even in the safety of their universe, we would be at risk alongside every other living thing across every plane of existence.”

“I can’t say I’ve secured our future so long as he’s around, then,” Joohyun surmised, a flame of newfound resolve firmly cementing itself within her soul. “When he’s out of the picture, only then would I be in a position to change. I understand...”

“LOONA, was it?” Seungwan asked as she thought back to the conversation herself. Joohyun nodded as Seungwan’s smile widened. “And they operate in teams of four...it would work out pretty well, don’t you think?”

“Thank you, Seungwan.”

Joohyun’s sudden declaration of appreciation was paired with a genuine smile of pure love and adoration. “I won’t hesitate. We’ll join LOONA. I’ll protect us. All of us.”

Seungwan returned the expression in full, the warmth of Joohyun’s determined aura reaching her as well. “I know you will. Now, I think we should catch up with them quickly before we give Seulgi reason to tease us about something…”

“I’m sure she’s too busy talking up Kahei and Jungeun’s greatness to Yeri,” Joohyun said with a playful roll of her eyes and a soft giggle. “I can already see Yeri believing in Seulgi’s idea of them having some powered up state.”

Seungwan shared in Joohyun’s laughter as they walked back into the tunnel system, hand in hand. “Leave it to Seulgi’s overactive imagination…”

「 ⮜⮜⮜ ★ ⮜⮜⮜ 」

Above the surface, Jungeun’s tranquil form stood in the center of a massive crater that spanned the width of the street.

A visible aura of lightly coalesced crimson mana encompassed her, rippling up and down her body like waves of flame. Moments prior, a tremendous burst of energy had abruptly exploded from her center, tossing the vehicles closest to her through the surrounding buildings like lightweight pebbles and shattering the earth beneath her.

The release of Jungeun’s might had spawned two runic circles of deep vermilion which motionlessly hovered about her horizontally, her frame acting as their center. One level with her chest and the other lined up with her knees, they were several feet in diameter and intricately ornate in design with far more runes inscribed upon them than the circles they normally employed.

Jungeun shook her head with disappointment at the sight of the two circles her body was stood within. With a dejected tone, she muttered inaudibly to herself. “Another second stage Absolution...not your lucky day, Jungeun. Not your lucky day…”

Lines and bridges of her mana came into existence between different symbols across both of the circles, surrounding Jungeun in a web of her dense roadways of dust while she sighed in defeat. As the birth of more and more links of mana between both circles took place, the one aligned with her chest slowly began to rotate in place.

With every breath of air she inhaled, Jungeun took in a large amount of the red dust surrounding her. With every exhale, she strangely produced mana than she took in, causing the runic circle at her chest to speed up ever so slightly as she added density to the web that enveloped her.

Jisoo’s eyes were brimming with astonished disbelief. She was in awe at the sight of Jungeun, speechless and helpless to even try and begin to figure what she was doing.

**“What is this effect, spearwoman?”**

For the first time since the beginning of their active conflict, the corrupted consciousness in control of Hyejoo’s body spoke up with the question burning in Jisoo’s mind.

Though Olivia’s consumed odd eye of flooded violet did not flinch at the sight of Jungeun’s new technique, a degree of cautionary concern was discernible in her voice. It equally showcased itself in her decision observe from afar with a lack of action.

As the network of Jungeun’s mana expanded further with more and more connections forming between her two runic circles, the one aligned with her chest gained velocity. After a moment, it abruptly froze in place, appearing to lock itself into its resulting position.

“This isn’t just some effect, Olivia,” Jungeun announced as her second circle began to rotate at a snail’s pace around her knees. “Unfortunately, this is much more than that.”

 **“Unfortunately?”** Olivia mimicked, failing to find sense in Jungeun’s choice of words. **“If such power would help you achieve your goals, why would you consider it unfortunate?”**

“Because worse comes to worst, this goes beyond my goal of holding you off until Chaewon’s back up,” Jungeun answered slowly, “and I wouldn’t be able to stop myself no matter how hard I try.”

Her second runic circle was slowly picking up in speed as the interconnecting bridges of her mana continued to expand and increase still. In her hand, her halberd was starting to glow, emitting a bright red light. The runes etched into the steel of its conjoined heads began to release streams of mana which flowed to Jungeun’s web, adding to its size.

“What exactly are you implying?” a nervous Jisoo asked from several paces back, unsure what to make of the information Jungeun provided.

Jungeun sighed quietly as her odd eye began to glow. She witnessed Olivia’s expression of neutral calm shift for the first time since the manifestation of her consciousness.

Potentially beyond her control from the shock of what she saw, Olivia’s eyebrows had slowly raised themselves.

The crimson hue of Jungeun’s altered iris broke free of its prison. The white sclera surrounding it was washed over with its shade, the entirety of her odd eye flooding with coruscant luminescence in a manner parallel to Olivia’s eye of darkness.

The runic circle set about her knees picked up in speed further, now spinning at a moderate pace as Jungeun spoke.

“What I’m...about to do...”

Jungeun’s speech gradually slowed down with each syllable she uttered, her voice becoming strained. It was as if something was fighting for control of her body and winning—she was struggling to hold on to the steering wheel as long as she could before it was seized from her.

“...might kill me...and Hyejoo both...but I don’t have a choice.”

Beyond two colossal walls of cement which rose stories high behind Jungeun, sounds of coughing inaudible to others rang out.

**“Your stubborn commitment towards protecting the cursed one’s meaningless innocence has resulted in the utilization of desperate measures which carelessly threatens her life...I see.”**

Olivia’s inference of Jungeun’s actions came with a return of her expression resetting to an unbothered neutral, her brows lowering.

**“With your motivations pushing you to go to such lengths that you have made a full lap into self-destructive paradoxical logic, the commendable nature of your stalwart disposition has lost all value. Your nonsensical beliefs are now proving to be an endangerment to this safety of my vessel.”**

The dark being spread its claws, the pitch black metal harshly reflecting moonlight from above as it spoke.

**“As a threat to my existence, you must die. Had only you followed my instructions and kept yourself out of my affairs, you would have been able to return home to those you hold dear. Make your peace, spearwoman, for whomever holds your heart will be left with nothing but the memory of your presence.”**

Olivia’s cold stare towards Jungeun paused with a blink as she heard her sneer with a laugh.

“You’ve got it...mixed up...” the woman of fire shamelessly revealed with a bittersweet smile as the runic circle at her knees reached its terminal speed, now spinning with fervor. The web of crimson mana surrounding her was growing immensely thick now with her breaths, almost shrouding her from view.

“She’s...been holding someone else’s heart...for a while now…”

Jungeun’s laughter died down as her eyelids began to fall. Struggling to keep them open, they fell slowly as she forfeited herself.

“I’m the dumbass...still holding hers…”

Closing her eyes, Jungeun felt it in the back of her head—a single thought.

It swelled, magnifying in size and presence with blistering speed.

It consumed the whole of her headspace, washing away a blurred, fading image of a red-haired sorceress with mismatched eyes of dark gray and ocean blue.

The single thought that took over the entirety of her consciousness shrouded her mind like a protective veil, preventing anything from intruding upon its domain. With nothing else to contest it, the single thought she submitted herself to claimed dominion over its new land as it echoed inside of her head.

_Olivia’s going to kill Jisoo with Hyejoo’s hands..._

The single thought took shape in the form of unparalleled ambition that coursed through her like the blood in her veins, like the managen in her manasystem.

_To the best of my ability...without hurting Hyejoo, if at all possible..._

Her consciousness drowning in the single thought, every single ounce of her being became focused beyond her control in pursuit of it.

_….I have to stop her._

She physically felt it—the will to act upon it manifesting.

The insatiable need to see it through to the end.

Amplified aspiration burned inside of her. In her body. In her heart. In her mind.

**_I have to stop her._ **

Jungeun’s single thought took over her.

It had become absolute.

Yet, in the selfsame moment she felt herself descend as she had so many times before...

“Jungeun.”

...something had miraculously managed to break through her mind’s hypercentralized focus of her absolution.

“Jungeun...”

A soft voice spoke to her.

It was angelic in nature, caring in tone and plainly concerned for her well-being. She felt a gentle, considerate touch on her shoulders. It summoned the consciousness she had willingly forfeited from its slumber, gingerly waking her from sleep in a manner almost inherently loving.

Slowly, Jungeun opened her eyes.

In front of her, Kahei stood especially close to her, their faces mere inches away from one another.

Her hands on her shoulders, Kahei held the woman of fire steady. The ruby pathways of mana that surrounded Jungeun began to quickly thin out, dissipating into nothing. The runic circles surrounding her body started to vanish in a similar fashion, turning to red dust which gradually evaporated.

Jungeun’s overtaken eye of crimson beginning to recede, the white of her sclera came back to life as her vermilion ocean shrunk back to her iris. Jungeun’s breathing was intermittent as her sense of self came back in pieces, the brief moment of unconsciousness becoming a small gap in her memory.

Her mind fully recollected, Jungeun’s reclaimed control of her body came next as her halberd’s intense glow faded. Feeling her own muscles again, she tightened her grip on her polearm to test her physical reawakening. Her fingers tensed, confirming that she had fully come back from the depths of her inner self.

She was fine. Her thoughts were her own, and her body was her own.

Everything was fine. She could move.

So then why wasn’t she moving?

Paralyzed in place, Jungeun connected the dots as she realized how intensely she was staring into Kahei’s heterochromatic hues of dark brown and bright amber behind her glasses. For several moments now, she had frankly been completely lost in the sight of the older woman’s tender eyes.

The woman of earth displayed a warm smile as she saw Kahei’s eyes move about ever so slightly. “It’s alright, Jungeun. Chaewon’s okay. You’re okay. You don’t have to submit yourself to an Absolution. Just breathe.”

For reasons she couldn’t quite understand, Jungeun felt something she hadn’t felt in a long time.

She questioned it as she processed Kahei’s instructions at a delayed rate. She took in a sudden deep gasp of air and stepped back, fully regathering her mind and body alike as she leaned forward slightly. Her chest heaved with her breaths, her lungs refilling their drained storage of oxygen.

Jungeun hoped the feeling would begin to subside with her recovery, but it was persistent. As much as she desperately wanted it to go away, it refused to leave her.

Kahei’s expression quickly turned over with worry as she stepped closer towards her ally. “J-Jungeun!”

Kahei held Jungeun steady by a single shoulder as her labored breaths continued. Jungeun kept her eyes to the floor, strangely fearful of gazing into Kahei’s eyes again—fearful of experiencing that sensation again.

However, knowing that she couldn’t avoid eye contact forever, Jungeun hesitantly raised her head.

She looked into Kahei’s eyes and, to her dismay, she felt it. Jungeun tried to lie to herself, to convince herself that the feeling was something else, but it’s true nature was undeniable. She winced as she realized it.

Jungeun had definitely gone Absolute. She forfeited her sense of self in exchange for the power to achieve her goal of stopping Olivia no matter the cost. She would be lost in the sea of her subconscious for however long it would take to achieve that goal, potentially never to awaken again on the off chance that pursuing it killed her.

Yet, despite the fact that she had completed her surrender and surely felt herself cease to exist...Kahei had managed to pull her out, and the fact that she was able to do so gave rise to butterflies in Jungeun’s stomach.

As she gazed into Kahei’s eyes, the feeling doubled over as her heart skipped a beat.

“I-I’m fine,” Jungeun stammered as she stood up straight, shaking her head. “Thanks, Kahei...”

“Thank goodness,” Kahei remarked with relief, her eyes checking Jungeun’s body twice over. “I was worried I wasn’t fast enough…”

“Yeah, you, uh...you got to me just in time,” Jungeun lied. As Kahei settled her vision onto her again, she felt them in her stomach once more—her butterflies incited her to immediately direct her eyes elsewhere. Guilt began to encompass her thoughts as she sighed. “Kahei, I’m really sorry that I—”

“It’s fine, Jungeun.”

Jungeun flinched slightly as Kahei interrupted her softly.

Unable to continue her awkward charade of purposefully avoiding eye contact, she allowed herself to meet Kahei’s gaze. She saw the earthen sorceress’ face flood with visible relief, her eyes smiling in tandem with her mouth.

“I’m just glad you’re okay. That’s all that matters.”

Jungeun felt her cheeks redden slightly as Kahei addressed her. She nodded slowly as she quickly changed the topic of conversation before her mind could become anymore rattled.

“So, Chaewon’s…?”

“I’m alright, Jungeun.”

The voice she had been waiting to hear finally came into existence.

Just ahead down the road, Chaewon’s calm frame stood across Olivia further down the ruined road. Her tome was in hand, and her odd eye of beige radiated a soft glow.

“That’s twice now today that others have had to go to extremely dangerous lengths to save me,” Chaewon murmured to herself, her eyes falling upon Olivia with a fiercely intense look of grave seriousness in them. “No more.”

Behind Kahei and Jungeun, Jisoo was left speechless. She felt uncomfortably out of place in the midst of a reunion resulting from an act of separation she had brought about.

The last of Jungeun’s heavy breaths of recovery passing, the frazzled spearwoman clutched her halberd tight as she peered at Olivia with renewed vigor. However, she was no longer the center of the demon’s attention.

The corrupted consciousness’ focus had shifted away from two previous foes. Looking directly into the girl of light’s eyes, Olivia wore a sour expression that stained Hyejoo’s face.

**“Anchor of the cursed one...I ask that you have patience.”**

Olivia’s entreaty was addressed not with Chaewon’s voice, but instead with the pages of her tome shuffling about madly.

**“The swordswoman’s barrier has been destroyed. Her death is imminent, and with it, the safety of the cursed one’s longevity can be secured.”**

Chaewon didn’t give Olivia the time of day as she took in a deep breath and immediately exhaled steadily.

An immense swarm of beige mana began to materialize in the air across the street, quickly breaking off and congregating into centralized pockets. With a flash of light from Chaewon’s eye, the pockets materialized into spheres of light which littered the air in a haphazard arrangement.

**“This is the not the correct course of action. I implore you to reconsider.”**

To Jisoo’s shock, the demonic entity was displaying emotion once again.

Unabashedly, it looked at Chaewon pleadingly, now showcasing a fully despondent frown.

Gently, the ends of Chaewon’s infinite chains slid out of their origin points. They didn’t immediately extend towards their target. In a show of restraint, they hung loosely from their orbs as the girl of light began walk towards Olivia at a slow pace.

Her body started to shine softly with a beige light. From her chest, a thin stream of beige mana flowed outwards, approaching Olivia in an unrushed manner.

Olivia’s frown multiplied exponentially at the sight of the approaching purification tether.

As the end of it neared her, Olivia showed equal restraint with the release of a subdued pulse of energy from her core. Minor enough to do no damage to anything around her, it served its purpose with its mere displacement of Chaewon’s mana.

Speaking up, Olivia’s reply to the notion was as much of a continued plea as it was a growing threat.

**“Not yet. You are making a mistake. Cease.”**

In response, Chaewon’s chains shook slightly with growing aggravation as they slithered further out. Their loose ends straightened themselves out and took focused aim at her like heat-seeking missiles ready to fire.

“Olivia…”

Chaewon’s voice sounded especially pained as she continued her stoic, undisturbed approach towards Hyejoo’s alter ego.

“...I’m only going to say this once…”

The girl of light’s purification tether reformed...and then it reformed again.

And again.

And again.

“...so please don’t make me repeat myself.”

The dark being found itself faced with over a dozen bridges of mana slowly extending themselves towards it. As more and more tethers came into existence, its current state of awoken consciousness was being threatened in full.

As remorseful and guilt-ridden as Chaewon’s request was, it was just as much a proclamation of her refusal to take no for an answer.

“Give me back my friend.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading! i hope you found it enjoyable. for any questions or comments outside of AO3;  
> —https://twitter.com/Helseivich  
> —https://curiouscat.me/Helseivich


	11. 「 episode 11; arc 4.3 」 —dual restitution//reclamation— 「 hyejoo vii 」

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi hello friends! i am leaving a note at the beginning of the chapter to highlight a post i made on twitter correcting some mistakes from past chapters and fixing the canon a little bit. please take a look before continuing—https://twitter.com/Helseivich/status/1137226227293577216
> 
> sorry for any confusion this might have caused if you were affected by it!

**「** **episode 11; arc 4.3** **」 —dual restitution//reclamation— 「** **hyejoo vii 」**

Jisoo was having trouble processing the sight of it.

The way it barreled towards her in a frenzy with unprecedented speed despite the chains of light and purification tethers right on its tail. The way it neutralized the fireballs of Jungeun sprinting behind her with matched spheres of violet shade. The way it effortlessly tore through Kahei’s walls of rock with the seamless summoning of pitch-black metal sawblades, ripping apart her earth like mincemeat.

Truthfully speaking, there was only one way to describe it. With the corrupted consciousness’ window of opportunity growing smaller by the second, Jisoo witnessed it first hand as it approached her with haste in spite of ongoing efforts from the others to stop it.

It was the physical manifestation of Olivia’s ravenous intent to indiscriminately slaughter her quarry while she still had the chance.

Despite being in fine enough condition to move, Jisoo was rightfully paralyzed. The manic look in Olivia’s exasperated eyes were in stark opposition to the eerily emotionless composure she carried herself with prior. Frozen in place with the demon after her life showcasing how serious it now was, uncertain fear had encompassed Jisoo’s mind.

Had it not been for Kahei’s perceptive mindfulness, Jisoo would have felt jagged tips of obsidian split her chest wide open in the following moment.

Nearing her target, Olivia bent her legs and pounced forth with enough strength to fissure the pavement beneath her feet. With her arm extended and claws outspread, she felt anger take root within her mind as she dug not into flesh and bones, but dense soil instead.

Standing upon one of several nearby towers of earth that she had hurriedly summoned with Olivia’s latest engagement, Kahei wasted no time in piercing a runic circle of mahogany with her fingers. In response, a bed of her mana that had taken shape beneath Jisoo coalesced alongside the shaking of the ground beneath her.

Jisoo fell to her knees as she found herself suddenly rising stories high. The ongoing quake at her feet was the birth of a pillar larger than Kahei’s other vantage points, rescuing her from Olivia’s assault. Crawling to the edge of her high rise platform, she peered down below and saw her pursuer staring straight up at her. 

Her murderous gaze was entirely focused on the swordswoman above as she dislodged her claws from the soil. Her attention focused on Jisoo, Olivia was suddenly blindsided by a piercing thrust into her side. Catching up with the corrupted consciousness in its moment of tunnel vision, Jungeun furiously stabbed her halberd into Olivia’s abdomen. 

Sliding to a stop as she met the resistance of her freshly materialized barrier, Jungeun exerted as much extra force into it as she could before the strike tossed Olivia down the road. The fissures splitting around her waist expanded slightly in all directions as she crashed into the asphalt and tumbled down the street.

From behind Jungeun, light footsteps raced on broken ground until they came to a stop next to her. 

With a silent breath, Chaewon commanded her mana tethers forward towards the downed demon. Approaching her still frame, their form was disrupted with the eruption of a fervent blast of force from Olivia’s body.

A dark, sickly aura of translucent violet dust took shape around Olivia as she slowly rose to her knees. Chaewon grimaced as she watched her tethers continue to dissipate upon sending them forth once more, their pathing impeded by the aura covering Olivia’s body.

“She’s rather serious about not giving up control yet,” Chaewon lamented with a sigh. Exhaling slightly, her odd eye twinkled momentarily as her tethers collectively vanished into nothing. “We need to fully restrain her in order to properly restart the purification process.”

“As much as I was hoping to avoid it, we’re going to have to break her shield,” Jungeun surmised with a small shake of her head. “I don’t think we’re shutting down that defense of hers otherwise, much less getting her to sit still.”

“I don’t see any other way of going about it, unfortunately,” Kahei’s voice sounded off in agreement from above. Traversing her network of vantage points, she arrived at the one closest to Chaewon and Jungeun. The crystal in the globe atop her staff radiated a steady light of amber as she spoke. “We need to destroy her barrier as fast as possible.”

“Very well,” Chaewon conceded with a tone of understanding regret. The runes in her tome and her eye of beige effulged in unison, dispersing a majority of her chains and their origin points. The resulting mana relocated itself closer to her current position, rematerializing once more into spheres of light and newly dispelled straightened chains. “How would you two prefer to go about this?”

“Time is of the essence here,” Jungeun reiterated Kahei’s point. “The sooner we get this over with, the less chances she has to get to Jisoo. That barrier has to go as soon as possible, but Kahei and I can’t target Hyejoo’s weak points without conversion…”

Chaewon’s eyes widened slightly as Jungeun held out her polearm to the left of her. Kahei’s gaze fell upon the sight as the spearwoman turned her head towards her junior. “We need your light, Chaewon. I know it’s something you’ve only barely started to mess with as an Intermediate, so it might be a lot to ask, but—”

“It’s fine.”

Chaewon’s words were rife with confidence as she watched a slowly recovering Olivia get back to her feet. 

“It’s true that I haven’t gotten to practice elemental modification very much, so the altered alignments may persist for only a short while,” Chaewon revealed, her eyes shifting towards Jungeun, “but I agree that it’s the best shot we have. The three of us exploiting her weak point without need for conversion is surely the fastest way to get Hyejoo back.”

“Thank you, Chaewon,” Kahei said with a small nod of appreciation. She held her staff downwards, pointing it towards her comrades below. “We shouldn’t need the modifications for long.”

As Chaewon took a deep breath, Kahei and Jungeun’s watchful eyes returned to Olivia down the road.

The girl of light’s mismatched eye emanated a harsh beige light. Simultaneously, the runes across several her grimoire’s shuffling pages shined brightly. Runic circles of Chaewon’s mana layered with an extensive amount of symbols beyond their usual came to life at the bottom of Kahei’s and Jungeun’s weapons.

With moderate speed, they traversed the length of the weapons. As they did, the sorceresses’ armaments underwent a transmutation. The crimson metal of the shaft of Jungeun’s halberd turned into a matching shade of beige. The deep scarlet steel of its conjoined heads similarly shifted into a hue of fawn darker than the pole below it.

Kahei’s staff was subject to a transformation of similar colors which even extended to the crystal within its globe and the web of mana it was suspended within. From dark mahogany to soft beige, both her weapon and Jungeun’s now contradicted the shades of their odd eyes and their natural alignment.

Completing their course down her teammates’ weaponry, Chaewon’s runic circles dissipated into dust. The resulting mana, however, did not.

Curiously, the modified halberd and staff seemed to absorb the remains of Chaewon’s essence. The runes etched into the steel of Jungeun’s steel and the glass and rod of Kahei’s staff lit up as Chaewon’s mana flowed into them. As a result, the weapons began to glow with a steady aura of modest beige light.

“How long do you figure we have, Chaewon?” Jungeun posed an open question while bringing her newly altered polearm close to her center. Flipping it over, she held it carefully with both hands, peering at its new form.

“Ten minutes at best,” Chaewon replied in a tone more melancholic than anything else as she reviewed her handiwork. Seeing the aura of light encompassing the modified armaments already dim ever so slightly, she grimaced. “Realistically, about five. On top of my lack of practiced application with modification, I’m still a little out of it after everything that just happened…”

“Five minutes is five times as many as we’ll need.”

Jungeun’s declaration was as steadfast as her steely glare towards the recovering being of darkness. Olivia had fully recollected herself from her impact, her eyes briefly inspecting her fractured defense system. A network of splintered veins wrapped around her body like a broken shell, inciting the onset of an irritated scowl upon her face as her eyes locked onto Jisoo once more.

“Keep your chains ready, Chaewon,” Jungeun instructed. “As soon as that barrier is gone, we’ll—”

Jungeun’s words came to an abrupt stop. What resumed was the act of her bursting forward into a feverish sprint towards Olivia who had just done the same towards the swordswoman.

Seemingly experiencing tunnel vision once more with her entire existence solely focused on Jisoo above, Olivia displayed surprising awareness as Jungeun approached. Having had kept her attackers in her peripheral vision, she deftly avoided a horizontal swipe from Jungeun’s halberd at the last possible moment. 

Olivia graced them with her attention for only a brief instance as her sideways leap safely placed her on top of a displaced vehicle. Targeted by a continued assault, Olivia’s continued attention was forcefully seized by Jungeun as she jumped towards her with her halberd raised. 

Hyejoo’s alter ego scoffed under her breath at the sight of Jungeun poised to strike down with the axehead. Content to enact her winning strategy from their previous encounter, Olivia raised her sickly arm of obsidian to catch the weapon once more.

To her surprise, she was met not with downward steel, but instead a chain of light ensnaring her at the wrist and pressing into her barrier as her vision drowned in light.

Jungeun had suddenly rotated her halberd and slashed upwards, cleaving through a runic circle of light that had materialized above her. Behind Jungeun, Chaewon’s odd eye stared at Olivia with clear determination in its illumination. 

The girl of light jumped onto the shortest of Kahei’s nearby vantage points as her circle released a burst of light like a flashbang. Momentarily stunned in a blinded daze, Olivia felt a tight pressure around her wrist preceded by the sounds of rattling chains.

Blinking hard as her vision came back to her, the consciousness possessing Hyejoo’s body was caught unawares and unable to respond to Jungeun bringing her weapon right back down onto her. Entirely preoccupied with her goal of bringing death to Jisoo, it was only as her obsidian arm was drenched in a deluge of cracks that Olivia realized the altered state of their weapons.

The sound of a disturbed Olivia screaming in agony as Jungeun pressed her transmuted halberd of light further and further into her barrier greatly unsettled Jisoo. Chaewon reflexively closed her eyes for a moment, doing her best to not let the sound of Hyejoo’s voice crying in pain deter her from her efforts of bringing her back.

In the span of a second, the section of Olivia’s shield around her weaponized limb became nearly mutilated. Chaewon’s chain keeping her claws at bay and sinking into her barrier by her wrist caused a storm of damage that only multiplied with Jungeun’s pressure at her forearm. 

Mustering what strength she could as the fissures rapidly danced up her arm and began to mix with the damage across the rest of her body, Olivia leapt off the vehicle away from the two. Landing on the pavement, she planted her feet into the ground and reared her arm of steel back. 

Pulling forcefully against Chaewon’s chain, Olivia glowered at the girl of light as she broke free of her restraint. Its ire now fully brought forth, the being of darkness heaved labored breaths as its nearly ruined shield vanished. 

**“Petulant imbeciles…you’ve disrespected the courtesy of my ample warnings for the last time.”**

Jungeun was ready to continue her advance, but the sight of it kept her glued to where she stood as she stared at it wide-eyed.

With a long, drawn out breath, Olivia summoned a thick sea of violet dust around her. Had it not been for her flooded eye of darkness seething with a burning light of prodigious wrath, Jungeun would have lost sight of her as she nearly disappeared in her own dense fog of mana.

**“This is the end of the line.** **_Cease_ ** **.”**

Olivia’s ill-tempered declaration coincided with her mana restructuring itself in front of her, forming into a runic circle of monumentally tremendous proportions. Reaching above even Jisoo on her stories-high tower and encompassing the width of the street, it had circles within circles and beyond. Runes across different layers were linked with bridges of lavender, shining as brightly as Olivia’s consumed eye.

“Olivia, if you use an effect of this magnitude, Hyejoo will—”

“That much mana...she’s going to—”

“Don’t—”

As Olivia brought up her arm and pierced the bottom edge of her gargantuan circle with a single claw, unified protests from her three adversaries alike were silenced. 

Olivia took a step back, hunching over with severely strained breaths as a legion of countless dark voids began to form within a vast area surrounding her. Small patches of skin on her left cheek began to change into a lurid gray as the split in her runic circle continued upwards, her spheres of shadow multiplying with its progress upwards. 

Reaching the top, the circle split in two and slowly dematerialized, leaving Olivia standing in the midst of hundreds of voids.

Standing up straight with a deep breath, Olivia glanced upon Chaewon with loathsome abhorrence. The girl of light’s eyes were quivering with trepid anxiety as she stared back. 

Olivia’s gaze shifted towards Jungeun. Fearless to the very end, the spearwoman had already started her charge, making a break for Olivia with palpable resentment in her footsteps. Peering at her form of unfaltering courage, the corrupted consciousness found itself almost regaining a shred of respect for the woman it couldn’t quite comprehend.

Almost.

Olivia brought her attention back towards Jisoo above. With a slight wince, she immediately rushed forward towards her. As she did, her poison laid waste to the world around her.

From the innards  of her dark spheres, concentrated streams of viscous acid suddenly shot forth. Void of color and oozing with bubbles, it was the same black liquid which had burned away the sleeve of Hyejoo’s shirt and turned into the ebony steel which now covered Olivia’s arm.

In its raw form, beyond how it melted mere fabric, it effortlessly erased matter from existence. Sections of concrete and parts of cars became sizzling sludge as Olivia’s pressurized beams of dark acid swept the street. Everything touched burned to nothing, leaving behind only muck. The muck became a hazard in and of itself as the pools of it steadily hardened, expanding into dangerously jagged metal as sharp as her claws.

Olivia’s disregard for her surroundings became clear as her streams of condensed poison rained down the street without rhyme or reason. Reaching far and wide, nearby buildings were practically cleaved in half as their centers were split. Their full collapse was prevented only by the acid’s transmutation into spiky obsidian somewhat holding them together.

Without much time for thought or preparation, the sorceresses of earth and light hurriedly leapt from spire to spire as Kahei’s network came undone. Running straight for Olivia, Jungeun endured pain spreading in her legs as she forced herself to dash faster still.

Set to intercept the rushing demon as she neared her, Jungeun saw Olivia glare at her from the corner of her eye for a split second. In that selfsame moment, the spearwoman was met with the sight of a thick beam of black venom flying straight at her.

Before Jungeun could even think to save herself, however, the deed had already been done for her.

Standing upon one of the few remaining viewpoints she had remaining, Kahei’s scintillating odd eye glistened with amber as she extended her staff towards Jungeun below. With blinding speed, a considerable amount of beige mana had shot forth from the inside of her weapon’s glass compartment and rushed to Jungeun’s side.

The crystal within Kahei’s staff shook with steady vibrations as the mana coalesced into a giant hexagon-shaped mirror. Anchored to the ground by chains of light digging into the floor from its lower corners, it gave off a bright light as it sheened in the moonlight. Jungeun felt unparalleled appreciation towards Kahei take root within her as she watched the toxic stream barrel into the mirror. 

Saved from the suffering of being drenched in hell’s fluids, she sighed lightly as she witnessed an immense aura of beige swallow the mirror whole. Olivia’s poison never touched the surface of the mirror, instead being reflected away from the group into the sky above. The remnants of it fell in a straight line down the road, creating a pathway of twisted metal. 

Out of harm’s way, Jungeun continued her advance as the mirror of light began to disintegrate. She heard two pairs of footsteps behind her, followed by the rattling of chains which became louder as they passed her from behind. With no towers of earth to remain perched upon, Kahei and Chaewon had taken to the ground and were bravely rushing to aid Jungeun.

As Jungeun brought her eyes back to her front, though, she realized it wasn’t just her they were desperate to help. Her eyes furiously narrowed at the sight of it, and the muscles in her legs tensed as she bid her body to break its limits.

“I told you to stay out of this, god damn it!”

Down the road, in an act of conceited rebellion…

“I will not be saved by the forsaken conjurer who abandoned the salvation I so kindly blessed her with! ‘Twould be preferable to die with some form of dignity, barriers be damned!”

...Jisoo had defied Jungeun’s very simple instructions.

Landing from a quick descent with winds at her back, Jisoo was poised to challenge Olivia. The sight of Chaewon’s approach in defense of her had triggered a need to redeem herself. Unwilling to cower any longer, Jisoo shouted with fresh courage as she flourished her weapon. “Come, wretched hellspawn!”

With the woman she was so eager to decisively decimate sprinting towards her without hesitation, Olivia wasted no time in leaping forward with extended claws. 

Meeting her pouncing strike head on, Jisoo parried the corrupted consciousness with an immaculately timed raising of her blade’s forte. Unlike their prior clashing, Jisoo found herself met not with greater strength, but noticeably less.

Olivia’s exhausted breaths and slow expansion of sickeningly decayed skin on her face was all the confirmation the swordswoman needed. The demon with power beyond measure had played its most potent trump card and was now suffering the price. Visibly drained of stamina and succumbing to its own corruption, the playing field was now properly leveled.

Jisoo felt it as the realization hit her—pure clarity sweeping everything away from her mind. The courage to take matters into her own hands that she had found herself suddenly instilled with increased exponentially.

Settling into an advantageous position with her parry, Jisoo was equipped with a solemn expression of composed calm about her face. With Olivia recoiling slightly, Jisoo executed an elegant riposte as she lunged forward. Lowering her arm and extending her rotated sword hand, she took a quick breath as she drove her rapier into her opponent’s abdomen.

The tip of her sword pierced into the same side of Olivia’s torso that Jungeun had struck prior. An already veritable shower of cracks manifesting with her shield, the damage became even more ruinous as they deepened further. Spreading out like flames in a forest, Olivia’s defenses were nearly compromised with fissures now covering most of her frame.

With Jisoo’s exhale, her seamless assault continued. Azure mana that had materialized behind her coalesced into spheres of water. Arranged in two vertical lines behind her, Jisoo’s eye of ocean blue surged with light as they expelled blasting streams of water forward. 

The high pressure aerial rivers crashed into Olivia, sending her sliding backwards as the coat of light surrounding her continued to break. Bearing so little vigor that she couldn’t even ground herself properly, she lost her footing and tumbled backwards. With ragged breaths, she rolled to a stop.

As Olivia rose to her feet, the acid downpour she mindlessly drenched the world with came to a stop all around the sorceresses. Jungeun, Kahei, and Chaewon had caught up to the scene, coming to a cautionary stop not far from the battered being of darkness. Jisoo rushed forward from her position, her gained upper hand driving her to press her assault. 

She stopped, however, as the center of her chest came inches away from the glowing tip of Jungeun’s modified halberd. The spearwoman herself didn’t even grace Jisoo with her attention, instead looking to Olivia in front of her while holding her weapon out behind her. 

“Enough is enough, Olivia. It’s over.”

Hyejoo’s alter ego didn’t answer immediately. Huffing aching breaths, her eyes were to the floor as she collected her words. Opposite to Jungeun, Kahei stood behind Olivia as Chaewon slowly approached her from the side.

Chaewon’s footsteps froze as Olivia lifted her head. A scowl of deep-seated frustration and a lavender eye of ardent rancor returned Jungeun’s cold gaze. More and more of the left side of her face was beginning to wash over with gray, pathways of black wriggling alive underneath. Between her fatigued heaves of air, she spoke in fragments.

**“If you had merely...suspended your farcical desires...and accepted your fatuous beliefs as wholly superfluous…”**

Diminutive in size and hidden behind the palm of her obsidian hand, Jungeun hadn’t noticed it at first. 

**“...I could have ended this...with at least some degree of veneration remaining towards you.”**

It was Jisoo pushing her aside and running ahead of her that told Jungeun something was wrong.

“Jungeun!”

Kahei’s cry came with the sound of the bottom of her staff slamming hard into the ground below.

A small number of Olivia’s miniature abysses had reformed themselves in the air above Jungeun and Jisoo. With their recreation, a small runic circle came to life behind her hand. The movement of her index claw reaching backwards concurred with Jisoo coming to her front and thrusting her rapier into her chest.

Jungeun blinked as she watched Hyejoo’s shield materialize. The damage from Jisoo’s strike flew outwards across her body like frenzied clockwork, fissures upon fissures joining the rest surrounding her. In an instant, her defense system collapsed in on itself with a final explosion of cracks. 

Flinching from the impact, Olivia's barrier evaporated into dust as her claw fully pierced her small circle of violet.

Channels of ebony venom centralized in a small area above Jungeun and Jisoo began to cascade towards them. Jisoo clenched her teeth as she looked up, cursing underneath her breath as she realized she wasn’t quick enough. 

With little time to act, Jungeun’s body moved with urgent haste ahead of her mind as every aspect of her predicament hit her at once. 

Her knuckles going pure white as she tightened her grip on her halberd, Jungeun hurriedly spun it over and plunged it into the asphalt below. On the way down, she stabbed through a series of beige runic circles that took shape with its descent—her weapon’s aura of light had intensified to an almost blinding degree as the mana present within its runes quickly seeped out.

Chaewon’s stored essence rapidly crafted the circles in the same motion, Jungeun’s polearm breaking through them as they were formed. With the destruction of each one, a ring of white blades flashed into existence around Jungeun’s waist. No bigger than arrowheads, the small blades spun around her momentarily before flying forward in staggered waves.

Soaring through the air around her, Jungeun’s blades of light each found one of several runic circles that encompassed the area around her and Jisoo. Kahei’s odd eye was ablaze with brilliant luminosity as each circle surrounding the two broke into pieces—the triggers for her forthcoming effect set into motion, a subdued pulse of energy broke free from the crystal within her staff.

The web of beige mana that surrounded the crystal swiftly swept forwards and escaped its glass enclosure, carried in segmented pools towards each circle. Interconnected hexagonal mirrors of light quickly materialized in a wave, creating a protective dome above the entire group. As their collective auras began to surge, the dark of night was brushed away in an instant. 

Oscillating waves of blinding light drenched the street of shadows as Olivia’s poison was repelled back up into the sky. Acid rain falling back to the earth, her orbs of darkness vanished unceremoniously. Drops of her destructive substance burning thousands upon thousands of tiny holes into concrete, vehicles, and rooftops alike, Olivia suddenly growled with feral fury as she extended her arm.

Still standing in front of her assailant, the spectacle of Kahei’s shelter of light had stolen Jisoo’s attention away from Olivia. The sound of the demon’s guttural roar caused her to snap her head back towards her aggressor.

A nervous shiver rolled down Jisoo’s spine. Her heart had skipped several beats. She gulped hard as she blinked.

Three wicked claws of serrated obsidian were an almost imperceptible hair’s breadth away from maiming her and mangling her face into an unrecognizable mess.

Jisoo stepped back slowly with widened eyes. Olivia’s assassination attempt was stopped by a series of white chains coiled around her arm. Her barrier destroyed, they managed a secure grip directly onto her limb without resistance. Chains were also at her neck, waist, and ankles, preventing her attempts to use her remaining ounce of energy to break free and continue through with her assault.

Jisoo’s gaze followed the chains to their origin points. Coming to their destination, she experienced something brand new to her. It was something she had never quite seen before, even despite the several years of history they shared. She could scarcely believe the reality behind it, but there was no denying it.

“You’ve overstayed your welcome, Olivia.”

It was genuine acrimony residing within Chaewon’s tone, becoming more and more pronounced in every word with resounding turbulence.

The rage inside of her small voice extended to the shine of her ignited odd eye, the light coming from it more cross than Jisoo had ever seen before. As her mismatched gaze of beige and hazel fell upon the rising corruption and decaying flesh brought upon Hyejoo’s body, Chaewon’s weary expression shook with barely contained vexation.

With every step Chaewon took, Jisoo could feel how severely the girl of light was holding herself back—the normally quiet, well-mannered sorceress was furious beyond description, yet, despite the intensity of her emotions, her composed demeanor was measured and tranquil. 

As Chaewon’s body was enveloped in light with a single purification tether taking shape in front of her, the strength of her character was utterly apparent as she ultimately did not succumb to the sentimental storm brewing in her mind.

“It’s time to go.”

Jisoo stepped back further as Chaewon approached Olivia. As if their storied history was a false memory, Chaewon didn’t even so much as grace Jisoo with a single glance as she walked past her. Her focus entirely on dispelling the corrupted consciousness, Jisoo watched with bated breath as Chaewon came to a stop in front of Olivia.

From behind the swordswoman, Jungeun approached slowly. Debilitation showed itself in her eyes as she sighed, stopping behind Chaewon. The beige aura that swallowed her halberd started to fade, and with it, its altered hues gradually reverted back to their crimson bases.

Similarly, Kahei walked forward, her downcast eyes mixed with both worry and relief. Her weapon equally reverted back to its original form, yet the mana surrounding the glass-protected crystal did not return. The crystal itself was a dim gray, its source of might entirely drained. Even as Kahei’s dome of light began to fade with the acid rain coming to an end, it remained dull and lifeless.

Standing close to Hyejoo’s alter ego, Chaewon remained quiet as her mana tether began to crawl forwards. Grunts of protest came from Olivia as it came to her, but with her energy depleted and with mana deprivation setting in, the dark being was powerless to stop it. Barely above to move against the restraints of Chaewon’s chains, Olivia bit her lip in dissatisfied defeat as it made contact with her.

A soft, serene warmth began to ripple within Olivia’s body...and she hated it.

Pain was washed away without issue as it healed every corrupted fiber of her being. With every fraction of a second spent under the subjugation of Chaewon’s purification, Olivia heard her rise from her slumber within.

**Chae...won…?**

Olivia felt time move at a snail’s pace as her reduction to subconscious thought began. The blotches of gray skin that stained Hyejoo’s face gradually began to regain their color.

“Didn’t expect you to be such a massive hypocrite.”

With a low murmur, Jungeun’s tired voice made itself audible. Only Jisoo and Kahei acknowledged it in full, their heads turning to face her. Chaewon’s gaze remained locked onto the now fading presence which had seized her friend. Olivia herself kept her eyes to the floor, fighting a losing battle at remaining conscious against Chaewon’s purification.

“You chastised me for risking both my life and Hyejoo’s to stop you, but then you go and nearly kill both her and yourself with that effect...you know damn well her body can’t take that, even with you at the helm.”

Jungeun held her halberd steady as she paused, the butt of it seated on broken asphalt below her. Her expression souring and her free hand curling into a tight fist, she dug her nails deep into her palm of her hands as she found her words. “Just what the hell were you doing, Olivia? What are we supposed to think when you go and do something like that…?”

**“To discredit my actions and calumniate me with the insult of hypocrisy...to fail to comprehend how it was your own incessant meddling which drove me into that corner and left me with no other options…”**

Despite her frail tone from her weakened state and ongoing gradual transference of consciousness, Olivia’s words were as sharp as the deathly edges of her claws. Jungeun didn’t flinch as she was addressed by the fading being.

**“...once again, your ignorance baffles me.”**

Silence was cast over the five sorceresses as Olivia slowly raised her head. Peering at the spearwoman, she held a beaten frown as the sea of lavender that submerged her odd eye began to transition back to normal.

**“The moment you decided to interfere because you valued a belief system over the cursed one’s survival was the exact moment in which you sealed my fate and forced my hand,”** the dwindling consciousness revealed. Her eyes shifted to Jisoo slowly, giving rise to a tense discomfort within the swordswoman.

Olivia’s composure breaking momentarily, she took a struggled breath of pain through her teeth as her vision began to blur. Her eyes fell back to the ground below. 

**I’m right here, Chaewon...wait for me...**

The foundations of her consciousness were at their limits. She didn’t have much time left.

Olivia blinked hard, fighting against Chaewon’s light and Hyejoo’s growing presence within her as best she could. Lifting her eyes towards Jungeun once more, she saw the spearwoman gazing upon her dissipating existence with incredulous eyes.

**“Blessed with the element of surprise, I was seated within the perfect position to make short work of an otherwise potent new nemesis,”** Olivia divulged with a shake of her head,  **“but then you intervened.”**

The vanishing being of darkness winced as she shamelessly delivered a hateful scowl towards a quiet Jungeun. 

**“Boasting about your sanctimonious philosophy, acting in the interests of preserving the nonexistent worth of useless morality...your vapid showcase of self-righteousness has now accomplished naught but two things: the survival of an enemy, and the undeserved gift of information that will surely lead to the cursed one’s untimely demise...your preposterous fallacy lives on.”**

The nails of Jungeun’s fist sank deeper still into the skin of her palm as Olivia continued.  **“The swordswoman now bears knowledge of the cursed one’s predicament, of my existence and of what brings me forth...which means she and her allies may now develop the means to circumvent my awakening. This was the only chance I had to assist, and you have squandered it.”**

**“Next they show themselves, I may not be able to save the cursed one, nor her anchor or anyone else,”** Olivia lamented, her overwhelming contempt and disappointment towards Jungeun coming through in full.  **“If only your blindness had not tricked you into seeing me as your enemy...may you discover a cure for that affliction within your lifetime, for it will only lead to many more incorrect judgments...”**

**“And while I may have enacted a similar plan of self-destructive measures, I’ll not spend my potential final hours hearing you claim that I have erred in the same fashion as you. I am no hypocrite...”**

With an adamant argument in her self-defense, Olivia grinded her teeth.

**“The uncertainty of whether or not I would ever see the light of day again becoming clear to me, I merely aimed to make the best of the situation while I still had the chance. My actions never put the life of the cursed one at risk. Truthfully, how can you think as much…?”**

Olivia blinked slowly.

She felt it in the back of her head as she lost the will to open her eyes again.

**“How could I risk her life…?”**

The presence she had taken over was now reclaiming its rightful place on its throne.

**“How could I risk something that was no longer secure—something that had already been forfeited by your hand of misguided belief...?”**

Jungeun held her tongue as her nails broke through her skin.

**“Thusly, pray do not speak to me as if you are...a heroine worth praise, spearwoman...”** Olivia requested in broken, strained fragments,  **“for should the cursed one...meet her end due to the swordswoman...you will be the only one to blame.”**

Jungeun opened her mouth as if to counter, but when Olivia suddenly fell forward, she closed it with a small grimace. 

The woman of fire hadn’t realized it, but Kahei had long since redirected her glance towards her. Behind her glasses, ruminative eyes gazed upon the spearwoman. As Jungeun’s sharpened gaze gradually fell to the floor, a troubled frown showed itself on Kahei’s face.

Her chains stopping Olivia from hitting the floor, Chaewon’s eye softly glistened with light as they turned to dust. Words remained unsaid as the three watched Chaewon drop to her knees with the taller girl’s body in tow, holding onto her tightly as she fell into her arms.

“Hyejoo…?”

Chaewon’s voice broke a stressful quiet that set in with Olivia’s transition into slumber. The girl of light was answered not with words, but a reclaimed iris of contained violet staring at her as it slowly opened halfway.

“...Chae...won…”

Hyejoo’s voice was nearly inaudible. Chaewon almost questioned if she had truly heard it, but with Hyejoo looking right into her eyes and gently reaching for her hand, her worries vanished without a trace. Chaewon smiled warmly as she felt long overdue alleviation settle into her soul with the embrace of their fingers.

“Is everyone…okay...?”

Enervation was clear in Hyejoo’s half-opened eyes and her sleepy voice laced with fatigue. Her eyes slowly moved away from her anchor.

Her vision was blurry beyond belief, but even still, she made out Jungeun’s frame with her gray hair and halberd in hand. A head of auburn hair with bangs informed her that it was Kahei she saw next, stepping into her field of view and coming to a stop next to Jungeun. The Master sorceress held her hands at her chest, a look of relief washing anxiety away from her face.

Despite the resurgence of the junior she was so desperate to protect, Jungeun’s expression was dissimilar to Kahei’s and Chaewon’s. As Hyejoo attempted to look her in the face, Jungeun oddly looked away with despondent eyes aimed towards the devastated pavement below her.

“We’re fine, Hyejoo,” Chaewon said quietly with a squeeze of Hyejoo’s hand. “Everyone’s alright.”

Hyejoo’s eyes wandered further as Chaewon answered her. Behind Jungeun, a figure with a ponytail stood, looking down at her quietly. Even through her faltering sight, she saw the distinct shade of an azure odd eye stand out in her vision. 

As Jisoo stared at her, Hyejoo found a peaceful solace overwriting the final worry present in her mind. 

“Even her…”

Closing her eyes, her voice trembled as the tiniest smile showed itself on her face.

“...thank goodness…”

Though Hyejoo descended into silence, the calm amongst the four wasn’t jeopardized. As Chaewon put two fingers to the side of Hyejoo’s neck, she gave a small nod as she felt a pulse coincide with the steady rising and falling of her chest.

“She’s passed out from physical exhaustion and mana deprivation,” the girl of light ascertained, bringing her eyes up to Kahei and Jungeun, “but she’ll be fine.”

“Given the potency of that effect, I wouldn’t be surprised if her unconsciousness lingers for more than just a few hours,” Kahei reasoned, her eyes lost to the sleeping Hyejoo, “but what’s important is that she’s safe and sound.”

“Alright.”

Immediately following Kahei’s assertion, Jungeun’s voice rung out with the shuffling of footsteps. 

She had turned around, closing some of the distance between her and Jisoo with a calm approach. Holding her polearm by the base of its conjoined steel, she extended it towards the swordswoman’s chest. 

The middle of her rapier’s blade resting within the palm of her free hand, Jisoo remained perfectly still as Jungeun stared her down. “A challenge, is it?”

Jungeun shook her head. As she proclaimed her intentions with surefire conviction, Jisoo found herself thoroughly annoyed.

“You’re coming with us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading! i hope you found it enjoyable. for any questions or comments outside of AO3;  
> —https://twitter.com/Helseivich  
> —https://curiouscat.me/Helseivich


	12. 「 episode 12; arc 4.4 」 —dual restitution//blackpink— 「 hyejoo viii 」

**「** **episode 12; arc 4.4** **」 —dual restitution//blackpink— 「** **hyejoo viii 」**

Jisoo did not immediately reply to Jungeun’s demand.

Kahei and Chaewon watched the woman of water quietly as her scrutinous eye of azure glanced at the two of them. She took keen notice of the crystal in the globe of Kahei’s staff slowly regaining its mahogany color as brown dust began to collect around it anew.

“Do you sincerely believe that I would simply surrender myself to you?” Jisoo asked with a sigh, feeling disgusted by the blatant disrespect Jungeun treated her with. “Left the family of studied conjurers I so courteously invited you into for a caravan of ignoramuses, have you, Chaewon?”

Jisoo’s eyes shot straight through Jungeun in front of her, her unamused glance landing upon the grounded Chaewon. A confused eyebrow slowly raised itself on Jungeun’s face as she turned halfway to Chaewon behind her. Bewilderment equally settled on Kahei’s face.

“You know her?” Jungeun asked slowly.

“Yes,” Chaewon revealed with a nod, her eyes locked with Jisoo’s. “She was...she was the one who took me in after my parents disowned me. The community I lived with...she fostered it. She was their leader.”

“Was, was, was...do not insult me with the past tense, Chaewon.”

Jisoo tilted her head slightly, a peevish look beginning to take root in her eyes. “Speaking as if I no longer have a family left to lead...your assumptions of the state of what you left behind disappoint me. Do you truly believe I would abandon my fellow conjurers with the intention of never returning?”

“Haseul said that timeline was nearly at its end when she rescued Chaewon with the others,” Kahei thought aloud to herself, rubbing her chin contemplatively. “There couldn’t have been more than a year left, and they brought Chaewon back six months ago...how can you speak as if you know for certain that your home is no longer doomed?”

“I see.”

Jisoo’s curt response and its lack of connection to Kahei’s question only deepened the perplexity set into the three faces looking at her.

“I thought you would have known by now,” the woman of water said with a small shrug. “I suppose this was the first proper clash of our groups, then...thus, in exchange for your comrade saving my life—as foolish as it was of her to do so—I suppose I can inform you of just one thing before I go, Chaewon.”

Jungeun bit her lip in discomposure.

“Our timeline, our home, the family which you wasted no time deserting much like how your parents deserted you...” Jisoo started, peering into the girl of light’s eyes with a serene tranquility set about her face. Eyes widened as she continued, Chaewon’s especially quivering with unhinged disbelief.

“...I have established the resurgence of their halcyon days. The corrupted anima that flows within the conduit of our world is no more, Chaewon. Our reality’s continued existence in the multiverse is no longer in question. It will live on, free from danger and corruption…”

Jisoo’s fingers slowly slid up the length of her blade. Her countenance grew bitter as her eyes narrowed.

“...by a pledge I made to an old sorcerer. So long as I aid him in striking you all down, ensuring that the misinformed troupe of clowns known as LOONA meet their end...my family lives on.”

“An old sorcerer...you can’t possibly mean—”

“Yang Hyun-suk,” Jisoo interrupted Kahei, confirming her fears. “Though I believe most of you have gotten rather comfortable calling him YG.”

“You’re working with YG?!” Jungeun roared, taking a pounding step forward in angered shock. “Are you out of your mind?! Do you even know what he’s done?! Everything is his fault!”

“I am fully aware of what he’s done,” Jisoo remarked instantly, her composure measured and tranquil even in the face of Jungeun’s explosive rage.

“And knowing his history, you still side with him?”

“That’s correct,” Jisoo answered Kahei calmly. “Securing a future of prosperity for my family of conjurers back home is my greatest priority. Truth be told, however, that is only one reason why I am assisting him in his efforts.”

“As if there’s another reason to help a deranged old man wipe entire realities from existence?!” Jungeun fought back, her vehement vexation building at the mere insinuation.

Jisoo leered at Jungeun for a moment. Quietly analyzing her irritated expression, she returned the negativity with a frown. “To ask such a question...it is clear to me now that for all you know of what he’s done, you are clueless as to what he’s _doing_.”

“What he’s…?”

“Jisoo.”

Before Kahei could finish her quiet thought, Chaewon’s raised voice overpowered it.

Her astonished eyes were still shaking, but her voice was clear. There was a heavy tone to her words as she held the incapacitated Hyejoo close to her, tightly hugging onto her sleeping companion.

“Do you really trust that monster…?”

“You have no business judging whom I place my trust in, Chaewon,” Jisoo commented in opposition, scorn dripping from her voice like venom. “Not when you trust the literal demon in your arms more than you trusted the very person who gave you everything when you had nothing.”

“So you truly intend to stop LOONA? To...to kill us…?”

“To my dying breath.”

“I see.”

Mimicking Jisoo’s own previous brief response, Chaewon’s eyes fell upon the undisturbed serenity of Hyejoo’s sleeping face. Her eyes welled with regret as her hands clutched tighter still onto Hyejoo’s arms.

“Had I only known...perhaps it would have allowed me the strength to see you dead.”

Lifting her head, Chaewon revealed a look of remorseful fury etched into the glare she directed towards Jisoo. Her voice was tempered with the same meticulously inhibited hatred that she carefully regarded Olivia with.

“The last thing I wanted to do was to inflict long-lasting harm upon the person who showed me nothing but kindness, but if you mean to hurt us...I will discard the respect I hold for you, Jisoo. If it keeps my friends safe,...” Chaewon began a promise, inciting Jisoo to glower at her with disdain.

“...I will do whatever it takes to stop you.”

“Whatever it takes…?”

“Yes. Without hesitation.”

Jisoo sneered.

Unconvinced doubt showed itself in her eyes. “What a bold asseveration...I suppose we’ll find out if it’s as false as the claim that your precious little Hyejoo made when she swore she’d stop me from hurting you.”

“Don’t talk as if we’re just letting you walk away.”

Jisoo’s eyes slowly shifted towards an infuriated Jungeun who had taken another step closer. The tip of her halberd not far from her chest now, the swordswoman acknowledged her in full as she spoke. “I said you’re coming with us. You’ve got nowhere to run and plenty more questions to answer.”

Letting Jungeun’s words hang in the air, Jisoo’s vision wandered towards Kahei. The woman of earth wore a serious expression as she held onto her staff lightly. The crystal within its top pulsed with life, shining brightly in its enclosure of mana.

“‘Twould have been wonderful to return to my companions with at least one of your heads, but information is a better prize than nothing,” Jisoo conceded with herself, briefly looking upon the sleeping Hyejoo. “In any case, I will not be returning with you.”

“Do you really think you’re in a position to say that?” Jungeun asked with a small laugh of disbelief. “Your barrier’s history, you’re outnumbered, and there’s no way I’m letting you out of my sight.”

As Jisoo quietly taunted her with a smirk, Jungeun found her eyebrow raising in confusion. Her confidence seemed entirely misplaced, right up until a thin outline of cyan mana suddenly materialized between Jungeun and her quarry.

“Until we meet again, Jungeun,” Jisoo bid Jungeun farewell, the spearwoman’s expression warping with surprise. “Take the demon’s words to heart, for your actions on this night may wind up becoming the catalyst for my team’s eventual success.”

The dust in front of her coalescing with startling speed into a vertically standing runic circle of frost, Jungeun caught a bright flash of light blue from the corner of her eye.

“To your left, Jungeun!”

Her eyes brought to her side in response to Kahei’s call, Jungeun saw a woman as tall as Hyejoo perched upon the remains of a severed pick-up truck. Hair of pastel blonde parted down the middle ran down to her midback, swaying with the raising of her arm as a cold light emanated from her left eye of cyan.

Jungeun swiftly sidestepped as the woman tossed something towards her—it was a heavy diamond-shaped weight attached to the end of an extremely lengthy chain, colored light blue and covered in a thick coat of ice. It crashed into the ground next to Jungeun, but as she saw it break in front of her, Jungeun realized she wasn’t the true target.

With the weight thrown through it, the circle of runes shattered into pieces. As a wall of dust took shape, Jungeun peered through it at the woman of ice atop the car. With a calm disposition, mixed eyes of green and brilliantly bright blue stared back at her. As she took in her features, a distant memory was beginning to resurface in Jungeun’s mind.

Before Jungeun could properly recognize who stood before her, the woman called out to Jisoo in front of her.

“We’re leaving, Jisoo.”

“My apologies, I was a little preoccupied catching up with...an old friend,” Jisoo explained in search of forgiveness, her eyes falling upon Chaewon for a final time. “Let us be off, Rosé.”

Hearing the mystery woman’s name gave rise to an exponential explosion of stupefied astonishment within Jungeun’s head. The puzzle of her memory coming to completion, the woman of fire paused as it came back to her. Her disbelief increased as she realized something that simply couldn’t be.

“Rosé…?”

Jungeun’s shock came in a murmur that Kahei and Chaewon barely registered before the screeching cacophony of expanding ice overtook it. With speed equivalent to Kahei’s prowess, the wall of frozen mana instantly coalesced into a massive barrier of sweeping ice that separated LOONA’s sorceresses from their two adversaries.

Quickly regaining herself, Jungeun took a sharp breath as she suddenly reared her body back. A mass of crimson mana began to aggregate on the tip of her halberd. Throwing it forward, she lodged it into the cold blockade from afar. With her forceful exhale, waves of flame came to life as her scarlet eye flashed like lightning.

The fire rippled outwards from the implanted halberd, scorching hot enough to immediately evaporate the water that resulted from the melting of the ice. A thick cloud of growing steam blanketed the street as the frozen barrier was reduced to nothing.

Much to Jungeun’s expectations, when it finally subsided, the two were nowhere to be seen.

Jungeun sighed, her freed halberd falling to the floor with a clatter. She turned to face her allies as it dematerialized itself. “Figured she would have gotten help already if she had any...didn’t expect them to wait so late to step in.”

“Do you know who that woman was, Jungeun?”

Jungeun scratched the back of her head upon hearing Kahei’s question. “I’ve only seen her in a photo before, but yeah. I’m really hoping it’s not who I think it is, though…”

“Why is that?” Chaewon asked.

Kahei and Chaewon remained quiet as Jungeun’s eyes wandered back to the destroyed car the sorceress of ice stood upon. She didn’t answer, finding difficulty in piecing together an answer for Chaewon.

“If you know her, then your universe may have been supposedly spared as well,” Kahei surmised after a moment, thinking aloud to herself. “Which begs the question if she bears a connection to others from your universe…”

“If that really is the Rosé I’m thinking of, she does, and that’s why we need to stay quiet about it for now,” Jungeun revealed, bringing curious eyes of light and earth towards her. Jungeun shook her head as worry clouded her mind. “This would seriously blindside Heejin and Hyunjin in the worst way possible.”

“They knew her as well, then?” Kahei assumed. The spearwoman nodded slowly in response.

“Yeah,” Jungeun answered. She crossed her arms as she closed her eyes, diving into the depths of her memory.

“I don’t remember much about her, honestly. They don’t like talking about her, so I’ve only heard the story once, back when Jiwoo and I first met them. That was several years ago...couldn’t tell you all the details nowadays. There’s only one thing I remember for sure, and it’s why we can’t tell them when we get back.”

Opening her eyes, Jungeun brought her glance back towards her companions. Kahei and Chaewon felt unease as she looked at them with a dark expression of solemn melancholy.

“As much as I wish I could forget it, there’s an image burned into my memory from the night Jiwoo and I met the two of them,” Jungeun dejectedly disclosed. “It was Heejin crying her eyes out as she held a picture of Rosé. She told us Rosé was the closest friend she and Hyunjin had aside from each other. She also told us...”

Jungeun paused as resummoned memories of a bawling Heejin wounded her. Pushing past old scars, she filled Kahei and Chaewon in on the truth.

“...she told us that Rosé had just died that same day.”

The noise of nothing permeated the atmosphere for a moment which felt like eons as Chaewon and Kahei processed the information. Kahei was left with her mouth agape as she stared at Jungeun. “She...she passed away? Then surely the woman we saw couldn’t be her…”

“Never went back to look for a body,” Jungeun admitted, “so, for all we know, she made it out alive...”

“...and then ran into YG, being promised salvation for her reality in exchange for her allegiance. At least, if she’s fighting alongside Jisoo, that’s what I’m left to imagine...”

Chaewon’s voice was strained as she finished Jungeun’s thought. “If that’s true, then...people are truly accepting his terms and helping him knowing full well what he’s done…? I don’t know what to think…”

“For all we know of what he’s done, we’re clueless to what he’s _doing_ …?” Kahei inaudibly contemplated Jisoo’s statement to herself. “What did she even mean by that, if anything…?”

“In the end, that woman’s connection to Heejin and Hyunjin is one very big ‘if,’” Jungeun said with a sigh. “There’s no way to know yet if it was actually her. We can tell Jaden and the others about Jisoo, but for now, we’re going to need to pretend we didn’t hear her call that woman Rosé.”

Silence returned momentarily as the sorceresses were left to ponder the development in deep thought. Shortly after, distant footsteps broke the quiet, bringing Jungeun’s and Chaewon’s attention down the road as Kahei spoke up.

“They’ve returned.”

Down the ruined street, five figures were cautiously approaching. They scanned their surroundings with wide, apprehensive eyes and attentively deliberate steps, trying to make sense of the annihilation around them.

“What the hell happened here…?”

Seulgi’s concerned voice rose to prominence amidst the soundlessness as they came to a stop in front of the four sorceresses. Their gazes fell upon the grounded Chaewon embracing an immobile Hyejoo.

“Is she alright?” Joohyun immediately asked, her eyes flittering to the other three.

“She’s perfectly fine,” Chaewon assured, to which the faces of the hunted thaumaturges became awash with relief. “She’s just unconscious.”

“I presume from whatever caused all of this?” Seungwan inquired, looking up at a diagonally severed building held together by an expanse of sharp, splintered obsidian.

“Well, actually…she’s, uh...” Jungeun started before quickly trailing off, unsure of how to explain the situation.

“Hello. Might you be Yeri?”

Stepping forward, Kahei filled the gap of Jungeun’s thoughts with a small smile aimed towards a much younger girl hiding behind Joohyun. Despite the age difference, they met at eye level as she revealed herself from the cover of her older sister.

“Yeah,” the teenager said with a nod. “Is whatever or whoever did this...gone…?”

“Yes, they are,” Kahei confirmed, the warmth radiating from her calming Yeri significantly. “You’re safe now.”

Yeri’s relaxed grin extended to Joohyun. The axewoman gave Kahei an appreciative nod which was returned in full.

“Lucky we aren’t in the residential district,” Joy mused aloud as she surveyed the damage. She was inspecting a nearly vehicle, examining the hardened black steel which filled the gap of its split halves. “This kind of widespread damage would’ve killed a lot of people. Guess everyone’s gonna have a day off work tomorrow...and for the new few weeks, probably...”

“I can’t see our car,” Seulgi lamented from above. Eyes looked up and found her perched on the ruined remains of a nearby building’s fire escape staircase, her nimble athleticism having had lead her there with ease while they talked. “Washed away by the flood, I’d guess. Oh, maybe over there…?”

“What caused the flood, anyway?”

“A magus,” Chaewon answered Joohyun, her gaze still focused on Hyejoo, “or, more accurately...an enemy. They called forth a tsunami.”

“YG?” Seungwan wondered in surprise. Joohyun’s eyes sharpened at the insinuation.

“In a way,” Jungeun half-answered as she crossed her arms. “He’s got a band of lackeys now, by the looks of it. A sorceress named Jisoo showed up and dueled Chaewon and Hyejoo.”

“Thaumaturgy powerful enough to make a tsunami happen?” a nonplussed Joy remarked. “That’s insane…”

Kahei pushed up her glasses by the bridge. “How quickly did she produce that tidal wave of an effect, Chaewon?”

“Swiftly enough that Hyejoo and I didn’t have time to even think to look behind us,” the girl of light replied. “If you’re wondering about her skill level, suffice it to say she’s an experienced Master. She was always strong, but...I’ve never seen her do something so titanic in scale.”

“Well, hope everyone’s ready to walk, because our ride is long gone.”

Seulgi’s information came with her front flipping off the roof of a small convenience store nearby. Landing cleanly, she raised her arms behind her and held her head in her hands as she approached the group proper. “Don’t see it anywhere. Even if it’s nearby, wouldn’t be surprised it was totaled like everything else around us.”

“We can depart from here if you’d like,” Kahei said towards the five women. She was met with grimaces.

“There’s some things we’d like to take back,” Joohyun explained, her arm swept around Yeri in a sideways hug as she gently rubbed her shoulder. “Photos and the like…”

“That’s perfectly fine,” Jungeun permitted. Kahei and Chaewon shared their agreement with simultaneous nods. “Don’t have to leave right this second. We can head back to your place.”

“Do you want me to carry her?”

Looking up to her side, Chaewon was met with the group’s tallest towering over her. A soft smile was present on Joy’s face, her mismatched hues of deep brown and bright jade looking at Hyejoo sleeping in Chaewon’s arms.

“Ah, er...yes, that would be appreciated, thank you,” Chaewon accepted with a smile of her own. The girl of light rose to her feet, assisting in the transfer of Hyejoo’s body onto Joy’s back. As the woman of wind hooked her arms underneath Hyejoo’s knees, Chaewon came to her side and gently grabbed Hyejoo’s hand anew.

As the group departed, Jungeun paused for a moment. The others walking ahead as she turned back to where Rosé had been, a bothered frown spawned on her face while she stared hard at the destruction around it.

“If that really was you, Rosé,” Jungeun muttered to herself, her words laced with anxiety, “then that means I might run into her again, too…”

“Jungeun?”

The gray-haired spearwoman quickly turned around upon hearing her name being called. Met with eyes behind spectacles far closer than she had anticipated, she took a step back as her heart suddenly raced. Kahei looked at her with a curious tilt of her head. “Is everything alright?”

“Y-yeah, I’m fine,” Jungeun hastily dismissed the inquiry. She did her best to dispel the revival of butterflies in her stomach as she quickly looked away from Kahei. The chaos of the battle with Olivia and the resulting discussion with Jisoo had dispelled them, but with no pressing matters at hand, they were free to torment her once again.

“Let’s, er...let’s get going, Kahei,” Jungeun insisted, swiftly walking past the woman of earth before she could notice her cheeks beginning to flush with red.

Kahei remained still for a moment as she watched Jungeun proceeded ahead of her. She tapped her chin with an inquisitive finger before walking forward a few paces behind Jungeun. With Jungeun’s back to her and the other’s backs to Jungeun, no one witnessed it.

The unbound stress that came to life in Jungeun’s tired eyes.

It was the manifestation of several factors that haunted her mind in that moment. The nagging, lingering feeling that she had made a crucial mistake. The worry that Olivia’s assertions weren’t unfounded. Jisoo’s final words to her which uncomfortably bounced within the walls of her dissonant headspace.

_Your actions on this night may wind up becoming the catalyst for my team’s eventual success._

The fear that an undesirable fate had just been locked into place.

Jungeun straightened her face as she brought her fingers to her temples, rubbing them gently. She quieted her troubled mind to the best of her ability and pressed on...

“Shit, Lip. The fuckin’ commitment to the grandma gray...well, alright.”

...unaware of prying eyes monitoring her departure.

On the edge of a distant skyscraper that loomed over the city, mixed eyes of brown and vivid gold curiously watched the group of nine vanish into the horizon. With both hands, a woman held a fully copper baseball bat behind her head by its grip and end, resting her neck against it. Her shoulder-length hair of dark brown was moved by a noticeable breeze behind her.

The sounds of feet touching ground didn’t deter her from watching the sorceresses walk away. Her gaze focused on Jungeun’s ant-sized frame until she couldn’t make it out anymore, she smirked with a shake of her head as a coat of electricity briefly surged around her body. “Guess the reunion’s gonna have to wait. Lookin’ forward to it, Lip.”

“Are you alright, Jisoo?”

A concerned yet composed voice rose from behind her as footsteps approached. She sighed, turning around and departing from the edge of the building. She came to a stop next to the woman who spoke.

“Yes, I’m fine. I apologize for the delay, Jennie,” Jisoo sincerely stated towards a blonde-haired woman adorned in a red dress shirt.

“Don’t worry about it,” Jennie dismissed the apology. She stood with an aura of authority about her, a hefty labrys held over her shoulder with a single gloved hand. Colored crimson, the steel of her double-sided axe corresponded with the hue of her vermilion odd eye. “Whatever caused all of this damage...you fought it?”

“I did,” Jisoo confirmed. “It managed to destroy my barrier runes, but I’m in good health otherwise.”

“Pfft.”

A small snicker drew the attention of three gazes forward. It came from the woman with the baseball bat, sneering as she candidly stared down Jisoo with judgmental eyes. “You fuckin’ serious, man?”

“Excuse me?!”

“Lisa.”

“Oh, don’t look at me like that!” the woman of electricity protested with laughter as her eyes shifted from the offended Jisoo to the defensive Jennie. She smiled widely, her giggling subsiding as she brought her bat to her side and straightened her undone black blazer.

“You don’t realize how funny that shit is? There were only two of them and she got her shield busted! A fucking healer went and got her barrier broken! That’s some comedic gold. I mean, can’t mean anything good for us if she can’t even repair her own shit on time, but, well...good laugh, if nothing else.”

“One of them turned out to be a much bigger threat than anyone could have accounted for!” Jisoo countered, her face flushing with rage. “On top of that, she was naturally aligned to my weak point, which means that you—”

“If you’re about to try and tell me that I’d have lost like you did just ‘cause we’re both weak to the same element, do me a favor and just shut the fuck up.”

Jisoo’s eyes widened slightly as she witnessed Lisa undergo a sudden reversal in mood. Her eyes narrowing and her brows furrowing, her voice had deepened into a growl which absolutely boiled with ill-tempered rage.

“Speaking to me like that...just who the fuck do you think you are? Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to?” Lisa snarled in a low pitch, her odd eye flashing with livid indignation as a veritable tempest of crackling thunderbolts fulminated around her frame. A rush of static swept out around her, giving rise to the hairs on the others’ arms.

“You think we’re on even ground just because we’re working together? It’s barely been two months since we picked your sorry ass up. You don’t think I’m your god damn _friend_ , do you? What, just because we’re all Masters means you’re my equal? You forgetting that you’re the lowest leveled magus here?”

Lisa scoffed in contempt as she watched Jisoo quiver before her. Not receiving a response, she shook her head as her glare intensified. “You pretentious little shit...were you honestly trying to save face by dragging me down with you? Oh, it’s okay that you got your shit pushed in because I share your weak point, so it would’ve happened to me, too? Don’t you fucking dare disrespect me like that.”

Taking a step forward, Lisa came face to face with the shorter girl. Lifting her bat, she placed it upon the top of one of Jisoo’s thigh-high boots.

“See that?” the agitated sorceress harshly whispered, looking down upon her lesser experienced junior as she drove the top of her bat into the leather of her boot. Jisoo winced uncomfortably as Lisa leaned in closer still. “No barrier. Far as I’m concerned, you’re already dead. You _lost_ , and that’s not okay. It means you failed _._ End. Of. Fucking. Story.”

“Lisa.”

The roused sorceress rolled her eyes as the woman of fire addressed her. Jennie’s eyes were honed with disapproval as she held her extended labrys above them. Forcing Lisa to step away, she brought it down between them and separated the two.

Speaking as if she had jurisdiction over the group, Jennie reprimanded Lisa with an unamused tone. “Stop antagonizing your healer. We’re a team and you’re her senior. Start acting like it.”

Lisa stood still for a second, battling Jennie’s challenging glance with focused eyes of her own. Jennie spoke with her gaze unflinching and her body unmoving. “Don’t make me treat you like a child, Lisa. I’m not putting you in time out. Just back off for a minute. Take a breather. Clear your head.”

Momentarily looking back to the speechless Jisoo, Lisa sighed with another roll of her eyes as she gave in to Jennie’s clear sovereignty. She stepped back further, deftly twirling her bat with one hand. “Whatever, man. Should’ve sent me after them. They’d be down two sorceresses, including whatever the fuck they pulled that managed to cut entire buildings in half.”

As Lisa made way for the far end of the rooftop, the others watched her quietly as she took a silent breath. In the palm of her hand, a sphere of copper instantly took shape from a small cloud of quickly coalesced golden mana. With brushed aluminum engraved into its surface in the form of curved stitchings, it was effectively a metallic baseball.

Tossing it into the air above her, Lisa twisted her torso and bent her knees slightly as she grabbed onto her bat with both hands. With a proper well-practiced stance and a frightening amount of strength behind her swing, a burst of electricity flowed across her body as she made resoundingly forceful contact with the ball on its descent.

Her copper acting as an excellent conductor for her static fury, the bolts of lightning that encompassed her were swiftly directed towards the length of her bat as she swung. With the bat’s impact against the ball, they shifted once more, being transferred to the copper sphere and swallowing it whole before it was launched into the sky.

The baseball engulfed in a current of electricity became a streak of lightning that rocketed across the sky with immense speed and force, going well into the horizon. Jennie watched Lisa produce another ball with a shake of her head, settling into displacing her stirred anger with continued batting practice.

“What exactly happened, Jisoo?”

The voice of the fourth sorceress posed a question. From behind Jisoo, a woman in a long-sleeved white crop jacket looked at the swordswoman with a confused eye of frosted blue. She and Jennie stepped forward towards the quiet swordswoman who was beginning to recollect herself again.

“It was the dark haired girl...her name is Hyejoo,” Jisoo shared with the attentive Jennie and Rosé. “She seems to be harboring some type of...malevolent entity within her.”

“A malevolent entity?” Jennie echoed slowly, unsure of what to make of Jisoo’s words. “What do you mean?”

“It’s difficult to describe,” Jisoo said in defeat, bringing a single hand to her hips. Her eyes fell to the ground below her as she tried to craft her thoughts.

“It’s as if a shadow or something of the sort resides within her...with the severance of a purification tether between her and Chaewon, it took over her. They referred to it as Olivia. For all intents and purposes, Olivia and Hyejoo are not one in the same. Olivia’s capabilities were allowing her the potential to perform feats of wonder that were far and away from the realm of possibility for Hyejoo, including the effect that brought catastrophe to the town.”

“I wonder...it almost sounds like—”

“Absolution, maybe...but it doesn’t add up...”

Jisoo’s gaze rose to Jennie as she interrupted Rosé, her own eye of crimson now peering at the ground in heavy contemplation.

“You said there was a purification tether?” Jennie inquired as she brought her gaze back up to Jisoo. “Hyejoo’s manastream is corrupted?”

“I was lead to believe as much, yes,” Jisoo confirmed. “Going by what Jungeun said, it appears that the act of purification is what keeps Olivia at bay. So long as Chaewon is linked to Hyejoo, the monster that laid waste to this city is kept away. Knowing that, I suppose it wouldn’t be farfetched to claim that its existence is linked to her corruption.

“Jungeun also mentioned that term, however—absolution, or going absolute,” Jisoo commented, confusion clear on her face. “I’ve never heard it before, but if what you speak of harkens back to the spectacle that I saw her perform before she was interrupted…I am, admittedly, rather concerned.”

“Shit, dude. _Harkens?_ For someone who uses words like that, you’re really fuckin’ clueless.”

Coinciding with the loud smack of another electrified baseball into the sky above, Lisa’s jab towards Jisoo’s question dripped with disgusted disbelief. She turned her head towards the other three, scoffing at the swordswoman. “Lying to us about your rank or something? Sounding like a god damn Neophyte over here, not knowing about Absolution...Master sorceress, my ass.”

“Jungeun was interrupted, you said?” Rosé asked, cutting Lisa’s instigative taunts before Jisoo could even fully acknowledge them. Jennie’s expression darkened as Jisoo affirmed her curiosity with a nod. “So she was about to go Absolute?”

“She declared as much, yes. She summoned runic circles the likes of which I’ve never seen...they encompassed her body in a swarm of her mana. It appeared as if she was about to go unconscious, but then the spectacled woman stopped her.”

“Kahei,” Jennie quickly deduced. “Kahei, Jungeun, Chaewon, Hyejoo...so that’s a full unit, then.”

“Jennie, do you believe Hyejoo’s transformation into Olivia to be the selfsame phenomenon of Absolution?” Jisoo questioned, her eyes glued to the woman of fire. “I’m not sure I see how...they were vastly different by nature. Jungeun’s process required preparation, but Olivia’s appearance was nigh instant and without runic circles of any sort…”

“Yeah, that’s the part that’s throwing me off,” Jennie confessed as she slung her axe over her shoulder once more. “Not sure what’s going on there…”

“Was that bright light Chaewon’s effect, then?”

“Oh, the dome of mirrors,” Jisoo recalled in response to Rosé’s question. “No, that was Kahei.”

“What?” Jennie asked flatly. “That effect lit up the whole city. We saw it all the way out from where we were. That’s what made us run back. Kahei should only have a level two affinity with light...she really did that?”

“It was elemental modification. Chaewon charged Kahei’s staff with light, as well as Jungeun’s polearm.”

“Why light?” Rosé pondered aloud. “Darkness-aligned magi are weak to either water or electricity…”

“That would be the other point of interest,” Jisoo said with a nod as the discrepancy was pointed out. Unseen to her allies, Lisa’s focused face was listening intently to Jisoo as she hit another ball with ferocious might. “It turns out that Olivia has multiple weak points...the ones I happen to be most proficient with, in fact.”

“And you _still_ fuckin’ lost! God damn, you’re a piece of work, aren’t you, woman?”

Jisoo sheepishly grabbed one of her arms by the elbow as Lisa’s words stung her briefly. Jennie shrugged off the irritated woman of electricity, still focused on Jisoo. “That explains that, at least. Modify Kahei’s staff with just about any element and she’ll manage effects like that if she really needs to…”

“In any case, we need to get back,” Jennie dismissed the topic. “YG’s waiting. He’ll want to hear about this. Maybe he’ll be able to make more sense of it than I can. Better for him to be the one to explain the exact details about Absolution for you, anyway.”

Reaching behind her back with her free hand, Jennie retrieved a small crystal from her back pocket. Dark gray in color, she held it between her fingers as she extended it towards Rosé.

Rosé’s sky blue eye gave off a gentle light as the crystal became veiled by a small cloud of cyan. Coalescing into frost, Jennie lobbed the stone into the air and caught it again, feeling its frozen surface.

“Time to go,” she announced as she dropped it to the floor. Raising her boot, she stomped on it with great force. Dark gray mana taking shape as it shattered, the resultant cloud of dust reformed itself in front of her as it spread itself evenly.

A sleek black door materialized. With an eerily featureless front and the edges of its frame slowly seeping an aura of charcoal, its industrial appearance gave off an ominous, unsettling vibe. Turning halfway, Jennie looked towards Lisa at the other end of the rooftop. “We’re heading back, Lisa.”

Mid-swing, Lisa’s answer was delayed as she let loose another one of her baseballs. Satisfied with her spontaneous therapy, the electric sorceress took a deep breath as she tossed her bat over the edge of the building. It dematerialized in an instant, rapidly dissipating before she even turned around.

“Yeah, let’s get the fuck out of here,” Lisa insisted as she walked past her allies and approached the door. “Hope the old man doesn’t keep us long…”

With her hands in her pockets, Lisa brought a flood of dark gray light upon the group as she unceremoniously kicked the door wide open. The loud sound of the impact made Jisoo jump with surprise. Nearly coming off its hinges, the door swung forth with great speed before it was forced to a stop by its frame.

“...fuckin’ starving. Need some god damn food...”

Jennie sighed as Lisa lazily stepped through first, disappearing into the sea of tenebrous light before them. With a bothered huff, Jisoo caught her breath as she spoke. “Why must she always do that, and why am I never prepared for it...? Was the invention of the door knob simply absent from her timeline?”

“You’ll get used to it,” Rosé stated quietly, her calm demeanor unbroken. She followed after Lisa, and as Jisoo approached after her, she looked to Jennie behind her.

“I, uh...I apologize once again, Jennie,” the swordswoman said with slightly downcast eyes. “Seeing Olivia...that monster, I...it was unlike anything I’d ever witnessed.”

“It’s alright, Jisoo. I don’t doubt you. The destruction speaks for itself,” Jennie said with a neutral expression, briefly looking over the ruined landscape around them once again. “You’re alive and you got us critical information. That’s a win I’m happy to settle for. Remember, it’s not about the battle—it’s about the war.”

Jisoo nodded slowly, feeling a strange sort of warmth emanating from Jennie that contradicted the utterly serious countenance she always seemed to wear. She found comfort in knowing that Jennie cared for her well-being and even came to her defense, despite the fact that they had only recently met.

Jisoo stepped forward, crossing over into the shadowy illumination that poured forth from the open door. Approaching the portal, Jennie stepped in and grabbed hold of the door knob behind her.

Closing it quietly, her thoughts escaped her lips as she murmured to herself.

“Shame you weren’t here, Sooyoung...”

With the click of the door shutting closed, Jennie considerably tightened her gloved hand’s grip on the shaft of her labrys.

“...maybe the next timeline will be the one in which you finally get to meet the new Blackpink...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading! i hope you found it enjoyable. for any questions or comments outside of AO3;  
> —https://twitter.com/Helseivich  
> —https://curiouscat.me/Helseivich


	13. 「 episode 13; arc 0.9a 」 —fragments of cipher//promise— 「 historia i 」

**「** **episode 13; arc 0.9a** **」 —fragments of cipher//promise— 「** **historia i 」**

_ It was an accident. _

She was sinking.

_ I swear it was an accident. _

Deeper and deeper into the bottomless abyss, she was sinking.

_ I’m sorry, Mother...I was a coward without courage just like the rest of them... _

It surrounded her—thick dust of a sickly dark gray hue. Its collective density beyond comprehension, it blinded her and encompassed the entirety of her being no matter how much deeper she continued to fall. The further she dropped into the bowels of the planet, the darker and darker the dust became.

_ It hurts. _

She clutched her chest as she coughed in severe pain. Her already anxious breathing was hampered by the mass of impossibly concentrated dust around her. Short of breath, she gasped for air as she felt twinges of discomfort bounce within her head.

_ It hurts so much. _

Wheezing in distraught as her descent progressed without end, it was impossible to avoid inhaling the now nearly black dust that enclosed the space around her. With every speck of it she took into her body, strained pressure built in her lungs. In the time between seconds, it distressingly amplified at a harrowing rate until it could be contained no further.

The pressure within her chest burst forth in the form of rippling waves of torment that rolled down her body. Agony she was sure only existed in nightmares tore her apart from the inside. Crippling sensations that she could only imagine to be comparable to her vital organs coming apart piece by piece in bloody chunks were dismantling her body, and she was helpless to stop it.

Without warning, amidst the horrors of feeling herself being turned inside out, a series of especially dissonant tremors suddenly boomed within her head. Her hands quickly moving upwards, she pulled at her hair in excruciating misery as she was afflicted with a level of physical suffering that far and away surpassed what she could ever endure. 

Yet, to her dismay—

_ How long? How long must I wait to feel the warmth of God’s light? I was promised... _

—the suffering that obliterated her head evolved further still, transcending beyond degrees of mere physicality.

_ He was just a child. Didn’t know a thing about spiritus or necromancy. May he find peace. _

External thoughts began to occupy her mind. Memories that weren’t her own. Feelings that weren’t her own. Regrets that weren’t her own.

_ Trapped in the deathstream for all eternity...I should have listened. I should have believed. _

With every ounce greater the anguish within her grew, the louder the outsiders in her head became. Faint voices she had never heard before speaking of experiences she had never lived before invaded the privacy of her decaying mental zone, seizing her sense of self. 

_ Done in by one of those blasted heartbroken...what kind of mercenary am I? _

It was as if her own consciousness was being replaced, overtaken by the minds of a hundred others all at once, and it was swiftly driving her to new depths of torture. Torture that she was sure she wouldn’t be able to withstand for much longer.

She needed an escape. Anything to stop the pain. Anything to stop the stray thoughts that were stealing her away from herself, the fleeting contrition that wasn’t even hers to reminisce about in the first place.

As one of the now thousands of disconnected echoes in her head resonated within her ever so slightly louder than the others, she found her escape.

_ Why did I have to die? _

Death.

She felt her heart pause in bewildered dread as reality dawned on her. In her ongoing crisis of feeling herself being torn limb from limb and the ensuing panic of losing her own mind as her thoughts became mixed with countless others, she hadn’t quite realized it yet.

She was going to die.

Whatever following moments she had left would be her last. One way or the other, be it from collision upon the end of her fall or asphyxiation as regretful souls dragged her down to hell with them, she was going to die.

_ Mother... _

It would stop at that point. Everything would stop. 

The gruesome pain. The prying trespassers. All of it would simply vanish with her forthcoming passing. She would be set free.

_...all I want is for this to end... _

However, even the promise of being released from the scourge set upon her could not make her yield.

_...but I promised you... _

It burned.

_...and I don’t want to break that promise a second time. _

Minuscule and stifled as it was amidst the suffocating pain that continued to push her to the brink of death, she felt it burning as it came to life within her soul. It took shape as memories and emotions flooded her mind.

Her own memories. Her own emotions. 

The cacophonous deluge of external consciousness that drowned her was gradually washed away, leaving her with a single thought.

_ I don’t want to die. _

It burned and it burned, becoming ever more heated and prominent as it melted away that which clouded everything else. She felt oddly at peace as her single thought became the center of her existence.

_ I don’t want to die. _

An image in her head took the forefront of her mind. The darkness of her room, seated in front of her computer. Her eyes focused on a chat window in the center of her monitor’s glaring light, and the rising warmth the sight of it instilled her with.

_ I promised Chaewon that I would protect her… _

The image flashed.

A tiny pinky finger extended, hooked around the finger of the woman who only wanted to provide for her. The beginnings of a solemn swear that would stand the test of time.

_...and I promised you that I would live... _

An oath she made in the past had become her anchor in the present—the physical manifestation of her will to live.

**_...so I don’t want to die, Mother._ **

Her single thought took over her.

It had become absolute.

Yet, in the selfsame moment that she felt her consciousness descend just as her body fell deeper into the void of dust that drained both her body and mind...

**_Then live._ **

...someone answered back.

Leagues beyond the hazy, disunited recollections of strangers that had swarmed her thoughts, she heard it clearly. It wasn’t a thought, but a voice. 

A tangible presence within her had answered back. 

When she froze with disbelief, unsure if she was hallucinating or not, it spoke again. Now in the center of her cleared headspace, there was no mistaking its distinct and pronounced tone. 

With the last of its words echoing in her head, she felt herself drifting into a sleep so deep that she wasn’t sure if she’d ever awake.

**_Seek comfort in my embrace as you become one with me, child. Submit to me so that you might yet live._ **

「 ⮜⮜⮜ ★ ⮜⮜⮜ 」

“Mornin’, Olivia...eh? Hyejoo...? Uh, mornin’ to you as well, little lady...”

Burning illumination from a bright sun rained down upon a busy town square below in the middle of a well-to-do city. 

Several dozen figures were congregating close to an ornate central fountain, most of them sweating profusely from an excessively hot summer afternoon. Middling chatter growing louder and louder as more and more individuals joined the crowd, a mix of hushed whispers and candid conversation filled the atmosphere. Though their topics varied slightly, their eyes were all focused on a particular sight ahead. 

Their point of interest was a small wooden stage that was in the process of being set up in front of a masterfully crafted marble statue. A young girl’s eyes stared at it in wonder as she always did—it was a grand sculpture of a sizable wolf with six majestic wings. The painstakingly extensive details of the creation was present even in every single feather, massive though its wingspan was. Her eyes wandered downwards, idly reading the embossed text of the silver plaque set upon its stone pedestal.

**LUPUS** **  
** _ Blessed by the warmth of God’s light with Lucifer’s darkness cast aside. _ **  
** **HOLY CAPITAL OF THE CHURCH OF THE SACRED FANG  
**

Two men in lightweight chainmail armor who towered over the crowd stood at the front of the stage with sharpened swords of ebony steel and decorated shields of black and white. They stood unwaveringly still yet not unready to act, preventing anyone from getting too close to the hardworking laborers clothed in gray tunics behind them. 

At the anterior of the expanding crowd, a middle-aged woman with a cloth eyepatch stood quietly. With one hand, she fixed her hair as black as night itself behind her ears. Her other hand was around the shoulder of a small child that stood at her waist, gently holding her close.

“Er, ‘scuse me if this ain’t none of my business, Olivia, but did ya really need to bring Hyejoo to see this? A public execution ain’t exactly the sorta thing a nine-year-old girl should be seeing, ‘specially not front and center like this...”

The man that had greeted her and her daughter moments before spoke to her again, his words now barely more than a whisper. The young girl he wished to spare from the conversation heard him all the same. Olivia knew this much when she felt her child nudging herself closer to her.

Olivia didn’t promptly acknowledge her acquaintance’s nosy questioning. Her uncovered right eye of deep brown instead focused on the sound of shuffling footsteps from afar.

Three people were approaching the square from across a nearby road. An armored sentry similar to the other two lead them towards the stage by chains tied to their wrists and ankles. With their clothing tattered and ragged and their vision blocked by black cloth wrapped around their head, it was clear they weren’t being treated as people.

Through long, messy bangs of ebony as dark as her mother’s, Hyejoo remained silent as she watched them come closer with her eyes of equal brown. Indeed, they weren’t people as far as everyone else was concerned. No, they were below people. Below animals, below insects.

In the eyes of the holy order and the general public at large, they were below even the very floor the crowd stood upon, for they were the absolute worst thing to be.

They were necromancers, and the young girl struggled as she always did to understand why that alone was enough to make them subhuman.

“This isn’t the first execution Hyejoo has seen, and it won’t be the last,” Olivia declared quietly. Caressing her daughter’s face gently, neither of their eyes wavered from the sight of the necromancers being organized into a line atop the stage. “She needs to see it. She needs to be reminded of it. She needs to understand the privilege her humanity gives her.”

Olivia’s acquaintance showcased a sour frown as he looked down to Hyejoo next to her. With a shake of his head, he sighed and brought his own eyes forward. “I ‘spose ya might have a point. Can’t run away from reality, can we...?”

“No,” Olivia whispered almost inaudibly, her voice briefly quivering. “No, we can’t.”

“Good citizens of Lupus, I ask for your attention.”

At the behest of a man who had just stepped down from the stage, all strands of conversation rapidly ceased. 

Coming to a stop between the two knights and the spectators of the slaughter, he who summoned silence stood stoutly with his hands behind his back. Dissimilar to the workers who had just come down from the stage themselves, the man was adorned in oversized robes of black. A large hood covered most of his face, leaving his features to Hyejoo’s imagination.

With little to see of the priest’s visage, Hyejoo’s gaze ended up focusing upon the insignia set into the center of his robes. Colored white, a collection of sharpened fangs formed a circle, pointing inwards to the silhouette of a howling wolf within it.

It was nothing she hadn’t seen before, but every time she found herself staring at it, the young girl’s mind became riddled with perturbed uneasiness. The deep attention she was absentmindedly paying the emblem was tossed aside, however, when the priest’s voice came back into existence.

“The Church of the Sacred Fang will now commence today’s scheduled executions. By the decree of our holy order, three necromancers shall be sent back to Lucifer’s domain from whence they came. Rejoice as our world is cleansed of Lucifer’s presence with their passing, and be comforted knowing they will no longer taint the salvation that God will bring unto us.”

Though he spoke with raised arms in boisterous righteousness, the priest was met with lasting silence. The silence in question was not born of judgmental disapproval or unbelievable shock, but of mundaneness. The sight of individuals yawning and idly messing about with cell phones in response to being told that they were to bear witness to a trio of consecutive murders said all that needed to be said of the public’s opinion. 

For the good citizens of Lupus, it was just another day. Just another round of necromancers brought to death before their very eyes in the name of God’s light. Nothing of consequence.

And it deeply disturbed Hyejoo to absolutely no end.

The lack of fanfare did not deter the priest in the slightest from his mission as he turned around and approached one of the nearby laborers.

Positioned on a single knee in front of the two knights with his head facing the dirt below him, the laborer held up an immaculate double-edged sword of pristine steel with both hands. The priest grabbed it by the hilt carefully, slowly lifting it high into the air above. The sun’s rays were reflected cleanly off of its polished blade, momentarily blinding Hyejoo as light blinded her vision.

“With the virtuous blade of the Noble Wolf, our holy order will now do away with these blemishes upon God’s light,” the priest announced with piercing conviction in his voice. Below his hood, his eyes fell upon his quarry above. The three necromancers were standing perfectly still in a line, restrained by the sentry behind them that held on tightly to the chains that bound them.

With a disquieting lack of emotion in her eyes, Hyejoo’s gaze silently followed the priest’s path up the stairs. He approached the first of the prisoners—an elderly man with a wrinkled face to show for it. He kept still and quiet as the priest undid the covering around his eyes. The crowd stirred slightly as they saw his mixed hues of brown and burning crimson blink before them.

“Demon of Lucifer’s blaze,” the priest began as he discarded the cloth, “if you have any last words, speak now and pray that God acknowledges your plea in spite of your transgressions.”

A tense silence became the center of attention as the necromancer emptily stared back at the crowd peering at him. Some passersby away from the crowd who had just happened to be in the area paused their strides, deciding to briefly break from their commutes to bear witness to the day’s proceedings. 

With all eyes on him, the fire-aligned necromancer graced the priest with a response. A tired voice escaped his cracked lips as he looked at nothing in particular. “Had you spared my wife and daughter, I suppose I would have said goodbye to them.”

“Had they not been accomplices in hiding you away from us for more seasons than you had a right to live for, perhaps you would have been granted such an opportunity,” the priest hissed with scathing fury. “May your tale remind the good citizens of Lupus what fate awaits those who foolishly attempt to harbor necromancers.”

“Quite,” the relic of a man agreed, unaffected by the priest’s tone. “Well, perhaps I don’t need to say farewell in any case, given that I’ll be seeing them again in a—”

From beneath his hood, blotches of vermilion stained the sheltered face of a priest turned executioner.

“Not for even a single moment will I suffer such delusional implications that a necromancer would ever join a human being in experiencing the warmth of God.”

Pressed up against the older man’s body, the executioner had taken a firm hold of one of his shoulders as he drove his holy armament straight through his prisoner’s heart. 

“Even with their treachery of keeping you from our judgment, your family members were not demons in human skin like your ilk. They were human. God’s light awaits them, marred and dim as it may be from their sins,” the sanctimonious swordbearer claimed as he slowly pulled his blade out of the elder’s chest. He spoke to a lifeless corpse that fell over backwards while a laborer rushed on stage next to him, offering up a folded white cloth. 

“All that awaits you is an endless journey of inestimable suffering as you make your way to the bottomless abyss of the portal to Lucifer.”

The gathering of onlookers was eerily silent as the executioner wiped his blade of the necromancer’s blood. Spotless, he admired the sword with scrutinous eyes as he handed the cloth back to the laborer next to him. While he approached the next of his targets, Hyejoo was momentarily fixated on the motionless body on stage. 

Her vision shifted to the sight of a bright cyan iris staring at the sky above. The holy headsman had removed the cloth blinding the second necromancer. 

The moment her sight was freed, a woman who couldn’t have seen more than thirty summers pass her by gazed upon the rolling clouds high above. Her eyes moved slowly across the horizon above her, scanning for something in particular.

“Demon of Lucifer’s rime,” the executioner began as he indicted her, following his script without deviation, “if you have any last words, speak now and pray that God acknowledges your plea in spite of your transgressions.”

“I don’t,” she responded immediately, her unbothered tone matching the neutral expression set about her face. When she found it, she focused on it; the passage of clouds unveiled an aerial thoroughfare of gray airborne dust. It traveled slowly in an infinite line across the sky, the sight of it relaxing her greatly. “I just wanted to see it one last time—the road of spiritus I’m to become one with...”

Hyejoo didn’t flinch at the gut-wrenching sound of flesh being split open as the executioner unceremoniously ended yet another life before her very eyes.

“To mistakenly find beauty in something as doleful as the passageway of lost souls...become one with the deathstream as you wish, then, and do not ever return to our realm, demon.”

Pulling the blade out of her chest, he watched as the lifeless shell collapsed onto its side. From beneath the veil of his cowl, he wore a scornful scowl when he saw that the woman died with a faint smile on her face.

The laborer presented the white cloth once more, and once again did the executioner dight the weapon for its next job. Proceeding down the stage, he came to a stop next to the last of his prey. An oddly mischievous grin was plastered on the third necromancer’s face as his cloth blindfold was undone.

“Saved the best for last,” he playfully assured as he was revealed. “Should keep the people entertained. Good call.”

As opposite eyes of dark brown and a bright beige were revealed, noteworthy noise broke free from the crowd for the first time proper since the executioner’s introduction.

“He’s lucent?! Bloody hell, don’t see that too often...better than being born of Lucifer’s darkness and being tossed into the portal, but still...poor sod.”

The man next to Olivia mused to himself under his breath as the young necromancer smiled widely towards the chattering crowd. He turned his head to his hangman, seemingly in a horribly misplaced good mood. “Knew that’d stir ‘em up a bit.”

His smile widened further as he felt the sharpened edge of steel sink into the flesh of his neck. Fighting back laughter, the necromancer of light nodded to himself ever so slightly while muttering inaudibly under his breath. “After everything I did to help keep the lot of you safe…”

As the executioner snarled in a low tone that clearly exemplified the deep offense he took with the necromancer’s mere existence, the crowd immediately brought an end to their chatter.

“Archdemon of Lucifer’s blasphemous luminescence...for the crime of stealing the warmth of God’s light and disrespectfully claiming it in the name of your master born of hell, your head will be ours.”

“That serious, huh?” the necromancer questioned in disbelief. He shook his head, uncaring of the blade pressed into his neck or the resulting laceration of the motions of his neck against it. Aloof beyond reason, he was peculiarly unaffected by the situation at large. “Well, alright. Do I at least get any last words like the other two?”

“Unfortunately,” the executioner conceded, holding his tongue as he sank the holy sword just centimeters deeper into the open wound across the necromancer’s neck. “Speak if you must, but know that God will never acknowledge those who steal the warmth of the light.”

“Alright,” the archdemon said in understanding as his eyes fell upon the public before him. 

With a sigh, his carefree demeanor rapidly twisted in a downward spiral. His eyes fell, settling into a gaze brimming with anger. An annoyed grimace showed itself on his face as he spoke as loud as he could manage through the now prolific bleeding of the cut on his neck.

“You’re fucking welcome, you misguided bastards.”

Gasps and shouts immediately rang out. 

Olivia reflexively brought Hyejoo closer still as a small selection of individuals from the group began to run forward. With due haste, the duo of knights at the front of the stage raised their blades in a forward cross, blockading their progress. Though it stopped the crowd’s advance, it did little to stop their verbal protesting.

“His head needs to roll! Take his head!”

“I’ll not suffer breathing the same air as him! Kill him!”

“Find his family and end them as well!”

“Silence!”

An uproar in the form of a single word came from the executioner. It was laced with a furious outrage that was barely contained, evident by the whitened knuckles of his swordhand’s tightened grip. Still looking to the necromancer below him, his words were delicately chosen as he tempered his vehement exasperation.

“Archdemon,” he stated calmly, nudging the sword a slight measure further into the necromancer’s neck. “Pray explain the absurdity of your insult to our well-placed faith in God before I give your audience what they are rightfully owed.”

The necromancer answered his executioner’s demand not with words, but with a light breath.

As a small cloud of beige dust began to form in front of him, the mob at the front of the stage clamoring for his death immediately scurried backwards in terror. No sooner than it began to coalesce even the slightest amount did the executioner push the edge of his steel a fair degree deeper into the necromancer’s neck, causing him to recoil with coughed up blood as his neck was cleaved further.

His breath and focus disrupted, the dust dissipated as the necromancer weakly shook his head in disappointment. “The idiocy...to be so terrified of a little spiritus…”

“We have every right to be wary of your tricks, archdemon,” the executioner countered. “Calling forth the earthbound souls of the lost in an act of necromancy at the site of your own execution...such audacious blasphemy confounds me. I fail to see why we have anything to thank you for.”

“How about your damn lives?”

The necromancer lifted his head as high as he was able, wincing with a closed eye through the burning sensation of splitting his neck open even further in doing so. “I couldn’t tell you how many of the heartbroken I’ve killed...! Plenty of them real close to town! I went out of my way to protect you people, risking my life for your safety, and this...this is the thanks I get?!”

Hyejoo found herself clutching at the fabric of her mother’s pants, holding onto her closely. The necromancer’s words were rife with pain and disbelief, and it reflected back onto the child’s mind as she tried to understand why his status as a necromancer was enough to see him dead.

“You seek praise and salvation for defeating mindless dolls made of plastic…?”

The necromancer dropped his head in silence as his judge, jury, and executioner tilted their singular head in confusion. “A basic accomplishment even the most novice of novice mercenaries and warriors could manage...you believe you should be excused in any capacity because of this? When the Church of the Sacred Fang already manages the regular upkeep of Lupus’ defenses against the heartbroken without issue?”

“Can anyone really trust your defenses when you can’t even protect us from the so-called demons already on the inside?”

The necromancer’s strange claim giving pause to his train of thought, the executioner fell silent. Noticing his quarry oddly fixated on something, he turned his head and followed his gaze.

His sight came to a stop at the steel-faced Olivia at the front of the crowd. The single-eyed woman was challenging the necromancer’s direct gaze at her, bearing no reaction to the growing smirk on his face and the increasing attention from others she was receiving.

“Eyepatches. Classic move. Hide the eye, hide the fact that you can handle spiritus and dabble in necromancy,” he said through another spat of coughed up blood. 

“Worked for me for years...until it didn’t. Others always told me I’d eventually run into a knight or priest who would give into their curiosity and check it out, or that I’d be seen for a single moment without it and then reported..and they were right. Respecting one’s potential injury is all well and good, but what if they really were just hiding it in plain sight, you know…?

“Well? You’re not just gonna stand there and let a necromancer walk out of here alive, are you?” the necromancer asked in disapproval. “There’s no way she isn’t doing what plenty of us have done for years. She’s one of us. She has to be. Why not bring her up here while the stage is already set up?”

“That won’t be necessary. That woman is not one of your kind.”

The necromancer’s frown quickly returned when he found the executioner’s focus unworriedly returning to him. It multiplied as he watched Olivia raise her arms up from Hyejoo’s shoulders to reveal the source of his misunderstanding.

Hyejoo’s eyes fell to the floor as she turned slightly, her back pressing into her mother’s side. She knew what her mother was about to divulge and why it was necessary, but it never made the sight anymore pleasant.

With the eyepatch removed, Olivia shamelessly displayed the deformed void in her face. 

Scarred skin formed an unsettling hole beyond recognition and beyond repair where her left eye should have been. The necromancer’s expression gave birth to incredulity as he stared hard at the ruined remnants of her eye socket. “You’ve got to be kidding me…! That doesn’t prove anything! She just cut it out!”

“Know you not the facts of your own demonic lineage?” the executioner inquired, his patience growing thin.

“For all we have learned in the centuries that the Church of the Sacred Fang has stood proud, a necromancer cannot be forced to summon spiritus. Only by proxy of their cursed eye or with a willing, intentional display of their own accord can we ascertain the status of Lucifer’s lackeys—both of which you have so graciously presented us with.

“Besides that, Olivia is a well-known informant for our ongoing hunt against necromancers,” the executioner explained, giving rise to boiling wrath in his quarry which was present in his eyes. “Many of Lucifer’s underlings have been executed on this very stage by means of information she has procured, and today, like many times before, we will be rewarding her handsomely for her efforts.”

“You turn us in on the regular? You’re part of this damn hunt?!” the light-aligned necromancer openly questioned Olivia. His ragged shirt nearly covered in the blood of his wound, his words were damaged and hoarse, but all the same, he raised his voice as best he could. “Lady, you  _ are _ one of us! There’s no way you aren’t! So how could you...why would you…?”

“Do not waste your final breaths mislabeling an upstanding citizen of Lupus. Until she is directly witnessed performing necromancy, I will not have you claim her to be one of Lucifer’s demons. As for why, like countless others, she has a child to raise and feed. Do not judge her for bringing your existence to our attention so that her daughter might grow hale and hearty.”

“Wait, she’s the one who reported me to th—”

The sound of something hitting the ground cut off the necromancer’s words. It was his own head as the executioner drove the virtuous blade of the Noble Wolf upwards through what remained of his neck, decapitating him completely.

“Enough of your nonsense, archdemon of Lucifer’s blasphemous luminescence. May your extinguished life help restore peace of mind to the good citizens of our fair city.”

Desensitized well beyond reason, Hyejoo watched the severed head roll off the edge of the stage without a reaction of any sort. Only one thought was on her mind, and it was the question of if the executioner had just done the right thing.

The severed head fell into the hands of a dispassionate laborer who handled the task with calm professionalism. Hyejoo had to wonder just how many times they might have caught necromancer’s heads.

“Good citizens of Lupus, the Church of the Sacred Fang thanks you for your attendance and contributions towards today’s purge of Lucifer’s demons,” the executioner announced with a raised voice. Stepping down from the stage with a laborer in tow, he handed off the holy weapon to him after cleaning it once more. The laborer joined the others in bending down on one knee as he continued.

“Your watchful vigilance of our city’s streets is part of what keeps the warmth of God’s light from becoming stained by the invasion of the Lucifer’s hellspawn...the hellspawn who breathe the selfsame spiritus which flows along the deathstream. For that, you have our continued appreciation. As with every hunt, specific individuals who provided information leading to the capture of today’s executed may step forth and claim their reward.”

Hushed gossip began to spring up from the crowd as one of the silent laborers stood up. Vanishing behind the stage, he returned with three stacks of black paper bills and assumed his unmoving position next to the executioner.

Slowly, two people from the depths of the crowd made their way forward. A woman approached first, apprehensive eyes nervously evading the downward glance of the executioner from above her. She took the money that he handed her, returning a nod while she kept her eyes to the ground.

“Thank you for your service, good citizen.”

Eyes were only briefly glued to her as she hurried away, stuffing the money in a small handbag before disappearing across the street without a word. A yawning man walked up next, grabbing the people’s attention as he scratched his bald head with one hand and picked at his yellow teeth with the other. Upon seeing his paycheck being handed to him, he giggled to himself with a greedy smirk.

“Never get tired of this free money...I’ll be sure to enjoy a round with the boys on this. Thanks, lads,” he said as he flipped through the bills.

“No, thank you for your service, good citizen,” the executioner redirected the notion, the man’s ever present stench of alcohol not breaking his composure. “May you feel the warmth of God’s light.”

“Eh? Ah, yeah, God’s light...sure thing, lad,” the impious alcoholic dismissed. Turning around, he murmured something to himself out of the executioner’s earshot with a chuckle as he departed. “Whatever helps you lot sleep at night. Bloody lunatics...”

With one payment remaining, the holy headsman slowly turned his head towards Olivia. Others followed, watching her expectantly.

For the past several moments, her attention had been captured by the sight of the necromancer’s head. The laborer that had retrieved it was still holding onto it, and she searched for something as she peered at what remained of him. 

As always, she searched for something—anything—that might tell her that she had done wrong.

And as always, she found nothing.

Clearing her head, Olivia extended an open hand towards her child. “Come now, Hyejoo.”

With zero remorse or regret to speak of for her actions, Olivia was at peace as she felt Hyejoo’s palm settle against hers. Clasping it gently, she lead the girl forwards and stepped up to the executioner.

Grabbing the final set of bills from the laborer next to him, the holy headsman presented it to the aged woman. Through the veil of his hood, he secretly gazed into the vacant recess of her missing eye with a faint smile. “Your fifth successful hunt this month, Olivia. I must wonder if you are starting to accept the truth of God’s light…?”

“The only truth I have ever accepted is providing for my child,” Olivia instantly rebuked. A familiar sense of relief resonated within her as she simultaneously felt both Hyejoo’s fingers intertwined with her fingers in one hand and the texture of the dark paper currency she held in the other. “I would kindly request that you do not attempt to convert me to your faith.”

“A reasonable request. I will respect your wishes, then, much like you respect our holy order despite your lack of faith,” the executioner conceded with a small nod. “Believer or not, you will experience the warmth of God’s light all the same, as will your child. With your efforts in weeding out Lucifer’s hellspawn, the light you shall bask in will be all the more blessed.”

“Let’s be off, Hyejoo. We need to stop at the bank before we go to the market.”

Entirely disregarding the executioner’s sentiments as she refixed her eyepatch, Olivia gently motioned her daughter forwards with her. Hyejoo reciprocated, keeping up with her mother as they departed from the scene. Turning her head back, Hyejoo saw the audience begin to disperse as the laborers began to take apart sections of the stage.

A small amount of individuals approached the executioner and engaged in conversation with him. Their faces were alive with smiles, animated with admiration and reverence towards someone they seemed to view as a hero. Others in the crowd looked on with collective indifference before dispersing, returning to their daily lives.

Hyejoo’s vision ultimately landed upon the necromancer’s severed head once again. As grim as the sight was, she didn’t feel physically sick. Her stomach no longer turned at the sight of death like it did the first few times. With unmoving, disconnected eyes, she simply gazed at it and saw it for what it was according to the Church and the general public: just another one of Lucifer’s demons, culled in the name of protecting God’s light.

She frowned as her thoughts dissented from the majority, for she could still not see what he was as something punishable by death.

Feeling an uncomfortable sensation of being watched, Hyejoo’s eyes shifted to her left. 

Despite being the center of attention for a few devout followers speaking to him, the executioner was entirely removed from his conversation with them.

From the cover of his cowl, he hid a malicious glower towards the young girl as he watched her leave.

「 ➤➤➤ ★ ➤➤➤ 」

“Do you feel bad, Mother?”

At a small table in a dimly lit dining room, Hyejoo absent-mindedly poked a fork at a platter of mashed potatoes and assorted vegetables. Across from her, Olivia sat with a tranquil disposition. The one-eyed woman was taking measured bites of her food, but as her daughter delivered her question, she paused.

“No, Hyejoo,” Olivia sternly declared with a small sigh, “but if you must hear the words from my mouth yet again to be satisfied, then so be it.”

“I don’t feel guilty. I never will,” Olivia said, her eyes unfalteringly piercing Hyejoo’s. “The only way we can live in comfort is through the Church’s rewards for contributions to the hunt. Feeding you, keeping this roof over our heads, buying you all of those video games you like to play...it’s only possible because of the hunt. I’ll never make enough money otherwise, not even with both the jobs I work. So, no, I don’t feel bad. I’m only doing what any mother should. I’m providing for my child.”

“But you...you killed him. He died because you turned him in, so...you killed him, didn’t you? Just like all the others...and killing someone is wrong, isn’t it?” Hyejoo asked. Her eyes seemed to be searching for an answer in her mother’s silence as she stared back.

“I didn’t kill him. I didn’t kill any of them. Those I’ve turned in have no one to blame but themselves for their demise.”

Her mother’s voice descending into a near whisper, Hyejoo’s grip on her fork tightened as she grew quiet. Olivia tensed up equally, her hand curled into a fist on the table. 

“It is as the priest said,” she began, her gaze focused on Hyejoo, “just as you’ve been taught in school. Aside from the initial awakening outside of their control, necromancers cannot be subjected to forced summoning of spiritus. They must consciously coalesce it with their breath, leaving either their demonic eye or visual evidence of necromancy as the only proof of one’s connection to Lucifer. All he had to do was cut out his eye once it shifted in full. Preferably before, even. That’s all any of them ever had to do.

“Lose the eye and never think to summon spiritus, and the Church cannot claim you as a demon. Moments of pain and weeks of recovery for a lifetime of safety. That’s all it takes,” the aged woman scoffed in disbelief. “A questionable loophole it may seem, but a loophole it will remain, as it has for centuries. The Church has no other choice but to abide by it, no matter how suspicious a missing eye may seem. They would tread on the trust of the general public if they persecuted someone for that alone.

“All he had to do was cut out his eye,” Olivia repeated in a murmur, shaking her head as she returned to her meal. “Believing he could get away with living in Lupus, the holy capital of all places, while Lucifer’s iris was still attached to him...ridiculous. There’s a reason I only turn in the foolish ones, Hyejoo. He, like the rest of the ones I’ve hunted, was nothing but a coward without courage. His death falls not upon me, but upon the weakness which prevented him from doing what needed to be done.

“Lose the eye. Moments of pain. Weeks of recovery. A lifetime of safety,” Olivia drilled into her daughter’s mind between bites of her food. “Sometimes, that’s all it takes to live, and the gift of drawing breath can be easy to take for granted. Remember that.”

Hyejoo didn’t respond.

Her young eyes fell upon her untouched dinner plate, still contemplatively playing with her food. After a moment, the sound of her fork being set down followed by her light voice summoned Olivia’s attention anew.

“Promise me.”

Olivia’s eye strayed up and away from her food. Her daughter was extending her small hand forwards, pinky finger extended in a slight curl.

“Promise me that you didn’t kill him, Mother,” she requested, the brown of her eyes twinkling with the supplication only a child could manage. “Promise me that you aren’t a killer.”

Olivia paused, swallowing her food as she studied her daughter’s unanticipated pensiveness. For all of the times now that she had turned in a necromancer and made Hyejoo watch the resulting execution, this was the first instance in which the girl had questioned if she was a homicidal criminal for doing so. 

“I promise,” Olivia expressed in earnest, extending her own pinky finger. She announced her agreement with a clear and concise tone free of doubt or second guesses, knowing full well what promises meant to her daughter. The child had grown to take them extremely seriously ever since she learned what they were, valuing them more than most might. 

Hooking her finger around her daughter’s, Olivia locked it into place and prevented Hyejoo from pulling away as she suddenly spoke again. “But promise me something as well, Hyejoo. Promise me that no matter what happens in your life, you will always do whatever it takes to continue living. Even if it hurts. Even if you want everything to stop. Promise me you’ll do everything in your power to live.”

Hyejoo gulped. Though she was a child who witnessed death before her very eyes on the regular, a child she still was. 

The girl who hadn’t even seen her tenth winter yet felt noteworthy confusion take root within her when she descended into her mother’s eye. She was being delivered a look of grave concern, as if she were being warned of a forthcoming event in her future that she should have already long been aware of. 

She took no issue with the promise at its basic principle, yet she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was some deeper meaning beneath the foundation of the oath she was about to make to her mother. Incapable of fully deciphering the insinuations behind it, if any, Hyejoo was left to nod meekly in agreement. 

“I promise.”

With their pledges sworn in full, Olivia eased backwards. Hyejoo followed, yet as she sank back into her seat, she still displayed a lack of appetite. Her face was scrunched, a swarm of thoughts assailing the stability of her mind. Olivia examined her closely as she stared at her food, allowing a strained silence to occupy the atmosphere for a short period before she broke it.

“What brought all of this about then, Hyejoo?” Olivia asked as she gave her full undivided attention to her daughter. “You usually only ask if I feel bad. What you made worried that I was a murderer?”

“Um...well, it’s...” Hyejoo said in a broken stammer. 

Her fingers found a bit of her hair tied up near the center of her head, fidgeting with it like an apple stem as she found her words. “Everyone in school’s been talking more than usual about it—how great the hunt is, how it keeps us safe. They celebrate it like the Church of the Sacred Fang is doing a good thing, but it...I…”

Olivia’s eye fell slightly as she watched the girl she lived for struggle to form her thoughts. Hyejoo’s small voice eventually resurfaced when she stabbed her fork through her mashed potatoes, frowning as she did so.

“Lately, I don’t think it’s keeping us safe at all,” Hyejoo stated, collecting her thoughts proper. “Most of the time necromancers never do anything bad. The one you turned in even helped us by fighting the heartbroken. The more I think about it, the more it feels like all of this is wrong. I don’t think the holy order isn’t doing the right thing at all. But if they really are wrong, if killing is wrong...then why does everyone else think it’s right...?”

“It doesn’t matter what they think. If  _ you _ think it’s wrong, then it’s wrong.”

To Hyejoo’s surprise, Olivia’s agreement was instantaneous and steadfast. Her mother wore a straight expression of solemnity as she nodded. “You can’t let others decide that kind of thing for you, Hyejoo. You’re the only one who can choose how you want to see things.”

“Is it really okay for me to see things differently from everyone else…?”

The answer to Hyejoo’s question came in the form of her mother suddenly peering at the drawn curtains of a nearby window. As if doubting the established privacy of their home, she stared at it for a moment before looking back to Hyejoo and exhaling slowly.

Hyejoo’s heart raced ever so slightly as red dust took shape above the center of the table. It remained in its incomplete form, becoming nothing and merely floating as a cloud without incident. Olivia pointed at it as she spoke. “What is this, Hyejoo?”

“It’s...it’s spiritus…?” Hyejoo said slowly with a blink, her statement becoming a question as confusion showed itself on her face.

“Just spiritus? Just dust?” Olivia pressed. “Not the regretful souls of the lost as the Church claims? As your teachers and peers claim? It’s not the remains of those who couldn’t pass into the afterlife sincerely, denied the ‘eternal bliss’ of the ‘warmth of God’s light?’”

“I...I don’t...” Hyejoo mumbled, unsure anxiety preventing her from even forming a complete thought. As the cloud of dust slowly took the shape of a ring of gentle crimson flame, she watched it carefully as it expanded and surrounded her food.

“So then what did I just do?” Olivia pondered aloud towards her daughter, joining her in watching her soft blaze encircle the home-cooked meal.

“Necromancy…?” Hyejoo answered indecisively. “You...you used spiritus to perform necromancy…”

“Just necromancy, then? I’m not interfering with ‘God’s plan’ as the Church of the Sacred Fang would decree? I’m not ‘disturbing the natural order of the world’ by ‘manipulating’ the souls of the lost to do my bidding? It’s mere necromancy and nothing more?”

“I don’t...I don’t know, Mother,” Hyejoo admitted, becoming visibly flustered as her eyes shook slightly. Circuits in her mind were on fire with question after question, worriedly overthinking in full. “I don’t know what to believe…”

“You’re overthinking things, Hyejoo. You don’t have to know. Not yet.”

The consternation spreading within Hyejoo gave way and evaporated into nothing as her mother excused her lack of understanding. The ring of fire dissipated, her cold dinner now somewhat reheated. She looked up to her mother across the table, the one-eyed woman returning fully to her meal and speaking between bites.

“You’re under no obligation to figure something like that out in right this moment. In fact, you don’t have to know for a long time. All you have to know is that your belief ultimately must come from something you’ve decided for yourself. You can’t let yourself be pressured into believing something at the behest of others. The only person who can tell you what’s right or wrong is yourself.

“So, if killing seems wrong, then it’s wrong,” Olivia assured her daughter as she rose from her seat, picking up her empty plate. Making way for the nearby open kitchen, Hyejoo’s eyes fell to her own untouched food as she idly messed with it again. “It doesn’t matter if the others disagree. Don’t be scared of being different, Hyejoo.”

Hyejoo silently processed her mother’s sage advice as she picked at a bundle of broccoli next to her mashed potatoes. Her forehead was creased ever so slightly with the furrowing of her brows, still deep in thought.

Rinsing her dishes in the sink, Olivia grabbed a paper towel and wiped her hands dry as she looked to Hyejoo across the counter. A small grin materialized on her face as she watched her leer at the vegetables on her plate. “Oh, Hyejoo, speaking of promises...I trust you haven’t forgotten the one we made last week?”

“No, Mother...” Hyejoo admitted with a tiny frown, already catching on to her mother’s plan. She puffed her small cheeks in a bothered manner as she looked to the collection of vegetables on her plate.

“Then I hope that plate is empty before I get out of the shower, otherwise that new game will stay on the store shelf. And I will be checking the trash, so that little trick won’t work a second time,” Olivia warned as she left the kitchen in pursuit of the bathroom. She lovingly patted Hyejoo’s head as she passed by her, ruffling her hair a little bit.

Hearing the bathroom door close, Hyejoo was left to her own solitary thoughts. 

The executions played back in her mind as she stared at her food, much like they always did when her mother made her watch them. While she had long since grown numb to the sight of murder before her very eyes, questions of morality were now sparking within the young girl’s mind with her mother’s counseling. In that moment, the foundations for her beliefs were slowly being sown.

The sight of the leafy green broccoli before her prevented her from pondering the questions for very long. She steeled herself as she skewered the vegetable with her fork. All present thoughts in her mind were instantly overwritten by pure disgust as she bit down on it and swallowed hard against the urge to spit it back out.

“Gross…”

「 ➤➤➤ ★ ➤➤➤ 」

Steam filled the bathroom as the sound of running water came to a stop. Loud vents on the ceiling ventilated the closed room proper as a hand reached for a hanging towel from behind the cover of the shower curtains. Draped modestly in the towel, Olivia carefully stepped out of the shower as the mist in the room slowly met its end.

Approaching the sink, the necromancer who valued providing for her child over the lives of innocents took a deep breath. She peered at the gradual manifestation of her own image in the mirror, the fog vanishing from the surface of the glass by means of ventilation. When her tired, somewhat wrinkled face was revealed in full, her focus fell upon one aspect of her face in particular.

It was the aspect that had no aspect.

Despite the due attention she gave it under the refreshing rain of a heated showerhead, the concave vacancy adjacent to her eye still showed signs of slight filth in the smallest crevices of its deep scars. Reaching into the cabinet below the mirror, she left her fingers to search for a cotton swab as she kept her incomplete sight upon the source of its incompletion.

Feeling not the softness of cotton but the dull edge of cold steel, Olivia paused.

Slowly, her vision traveled to a small razor blade she retrieved from the insides of the cabinet. Old and broken, it was coming apart at the hinges and in dire need of repair or replacement. Yet Olivia kept it regardless, refusing to discard it at every juncture she ever considered doing so.

Whenever she began to doubt the worth of keeping it, she leered at the fading bloodstains across the length of the blade—the reminder of the courage she summoned on the horrid night she first discovered her unfortunate potential to call forth spiritus. The moments of pain and weeks of recovery she endured so that she might continue living.

Olivia felt implacable resolve take root within her as she stared hard at the cornerstone of her prevarication to society. It was the same resolve that always took root when she reminded herself of it, the same resolve that always cleared her mind of all vacillation.

She needed to see it. She needed to be reminded of it. She needed to understand the privilege her humanity once gave her, and what it meant to lose it.

A troubling unease was forming in Olivia’s mind, however, as she continued to peer at the razor blade. An image was becoming more and more present in her head, even in the face of her attempts to dismiss it. No matter how much she didn’t want to think of it, the image remained.

The image of her quiet, well-behaved little girl. 

No matter how much she willed it, while holding the blade and while staring at her own crimson relics of years past imprinted upon it, the image of a smiling Hyejoo simply refused to leave her mind.

The sunshine of her life whom she was entirely committed to protecting and providing for at all costs. Her number one priority above all else. Her angel that she would stop at nothing to secure a long, stable, peaceful life for.

When holding a bloodied razor of all things, why was her mind plagued with such beautiful, serene images of Hyejoo’s innocent, purehearted smile…?

A ruminative silence came and went before Olivia wordlessly set the razor back down in the cabinet. Her eye returned to the mirror above it, fixated upon the small cavern of flesh on her face which stood as a ghastly reminder of her courage.

Her fingers quivered as her hand found her eyepatch next to the faucet. Slowly, she donned it proper, sliding the elastic string around her head.

She made a quiet declaration to herself, but deep down, part of her feared that it was more of a trepid solicitation than a claim of absolute certainty.

“If it comes to that...I’m sure she’ll be ready. She promised.”

「 ➤➤➤ ★ ➤➤➤ 」

“What in Fate’s name…?”

“Damn...I wasn’t expecting much after how corrupted Jaden said the source mana was for this batch of gate crystals was, but this is unreal...”

“Yes, this is frankly unparalleled to anything we’ve ever seen before...”

“How…? How did it come to this…?”

“Shit. Looks like this one’s gonna be a waste of time after all.”

From a freshly materialized door of gray, five sorceresses emerged one by one. 

The last one to pass through closed the door behind them slowly. Her odd eye of distinct cyan was sharpened with caution as she scanned the area while the door began to turn to dust.

They were stood in the middle of what could barely be considered the ruins of a darkened city. The fragmented frameworks of buildings were present, as were some of the pillars that acted as their foundations. Nothing rose higher than a few feet above them, however, creating a rather infinitesimal skyline. Bits of metal that resembled sections of vehicles were strewn about all over the place, and splintered, severed trees along the sidewalks were uprooted entirely. 

In the distance, there was a clearing—a small town square of sorts was in shambles. A marble statue of a six-winged wolf that had seen better days was barely standing, half of its wings entirely broken off and its head severed. Close to the damaged sculpture, a wooden stage not far from it was torn to pieces. Swords, shields, and chains of imprisonment were loose around its broken surface.

As one of the sorceresses took a step forward, a gray-haired woman stepped in front of her. She impeded her path with a raised arm, looking down at the floor below them. “Careful, Jiwoo.”

The barely shorter redhead equipped with an immoderate amount of jewelry and a frilly peach-colored blouse followed her instructions without question. Realizing what she was about to step on, she became visibly uneasy as her contrasting hues of dark gray and oceanic azure went downcast. “Oh...I see. Thank you, Jungeun…”

Jungeun and Jiwoo stepped back in unison towards their three comrades, and the five took in the sight properly.

It was a boundless sea of lifeless frames that littered the ground of the world before them, mixed with mutilated humans and dismembered fiends of plastic alike. 

Indiscriminate carnage extending as far as they could see, the endless expanse of death stretched well into the horizon towards the edges of the city. What was likely once a bustling metropolis full of vibrant life and towering skyscrapers was now a graveyard for all forms of life.

Taking a careful step forward, a short blonde with hazel eyes focused on one of the nearby corpses. Propping herself onto one knee, she rolled up the sleeves of her mint-colored sweatshirt and examined the body of an adolescent boy. Turning his head to get a better look at his face, her eyes fell as she saw patches of decayed pitch black skin upon his cheeks and forehead. His eyes were colorless voids of nothingness, his sclera and irises consumed by shadow.

“Clear signs of having had gone into shock much like most of the others, it seems. No doubt brought about from being poisoned with tainted mana well beyond his corruption threshold…”

A voice chimed in above the blonde. An older woman with short neck-length hair had come to a stop behind her, sharing in the study of the deceased teenager. Jiwoo was close behind her, though her attention was set to the sky above.

“Haseul...” Jiwoo started, her face going dark at the sight of the sky.

Her words landed on deaf ears as Haseul became lost in her continued autopsy. “Aneurysms claimed their manastreams as a result of the extreme corruption, leading to system-wide ruptures which thus lead to leakage. Uncontained, the corrupted mana seeped into the body, and from there...the rest speaks for itself.”

“I can only wonder how recent this was,” the blonde replied as she rose to her feet. She gazed at the interminable loss of life before her with a somber glance. “With so many of them, it appears as if the entire city fell at once, which seems impossible, but there’s no other way they would all be clustered together like this. And I’m not sure it would explain the fiends...so just what exactly happened here?”

“Haseul. Chaewon.”

The two examiners performing their postmortem report turned around, their attention called towards the wistful cyan eye of a physically toned woman in a burgundy tank top.

“What is it, Sooyoung?” Haseul inquired.

“Look up.”

Upon hearing her words and witnessing Jungeun and Jiwoo silently peering at the sky above with their heads craned upwards, Haseul and Chaewon did the same.

Shifting their vision skywards, they realized the lack of sunlight in the area was not due to the time of day.

An astronomically heavy layer of dark gray dust had consumed most of the atmosphere high above them. Blotting out the sun like ash from a volcanic eruption, the corrupted mana shielded the world from the rays of its star for miles on end. Densely coalesced bits of it slowly drifted to the ground like snowflakes, and as they neared Chaewon, she could feel her insides squirming uncomfortably with every breath of air she took in.

“Given by the amount of bodies and the corruption over our heads, I’ve got a feeling that this town might have been ground zero,” Sooyoung conjectured with crossed arms, joining the others in the sight of the immense blockade of dust above. 

“If so, whatever the hell happened here is about to set the stage for the whole planet if it hasn’t already, and the rest of this entire universe is gonna follow in no time at all.”

“So you’re implying—”

“That we should get the hell out of here, yeah,” Sooyoung interrupted Haseul without hesitation. She grimaced as she exchanged a glance with her short-haired friend of several years. “Take a look around you, Haseul. An entire city gone, humans and fiends alike. There’s no one left to save.”

“It may just be this town, though!” Haseul optimistically offered, inciting a sigh from Sooyoung. The swordswoman’s gaze drifted away towards nothing in particular, seemingly having had fully expected the rebuttal. “It wouldn’t take more than a few hours just to see if there’s civilization nearby…!”

“Normally, I would have vouched for the standard procedure of a thorough search for at least half a day, but...I’m inclined to agree with Sooyoung in this instance, dear,” Jiwoo sounded off next to Haseul, drawing her eyes to her.

“You as well, Jiwoo?” Haseul asked in defeat. “You don’t want to check even a little bit…?”

The woman of water was genuinely apologetic in tone and expression as she tenderly grabbed onto Haseul’s hand with a shake of her head. “I’m not so sure there’s anything to salvage here whatsoever, dear, be it magi, information, or otherwise. We’re bearing witness to a timeline brought to the end of its days by Fate itself. We should return and look elsewhere.”

“Jungeun, what about you…?”

The spearwoman ignored a sinking depression that crept up in her heart as her eyes briefly focused on the couple’s interlocked fingers. Steadying herself, she looked to Haseul. “Sorry, but I feel the same. This place looks so screwed up that I’m worried we’ll blink right out of existence along with it if we don’t head back soon…”

“I see,” Haseul murmured dejectedly, her eyes falling slightly. She brought her attention to Chaewon next. “The majority has already claimed the rule, but...what do you think, Chaewon?”

As silence lingered for longer than they expected, Jiwoo blinked. “Chaewon…?”

Extensive focus was drawn towards the immobile Chaewon as she still did not answer. The girl’s attention was completely absorbed by something a fair ways down the road, and when their eyes followed, the others understood why.

“Someone’s...someone’s alive…?”

At the distant end of the road, the subject of Haseul’s question was slowly coming into view from down the horizon with an unhurried approach.

In a pool of the city’s past inhabitants, the person came to a stop and stood with an eerie calmness about them. Bearing no reaction to the remarkable degree of near limitless death that surrounded them, they merely looked upon the foreigners curiously from a ways off.

It was a girl with an astonishingly fulgurant odd eye unconditionally bathed in scintillating amethyst.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading! i hope you found it enjoyable. for any questions or comments outside of AO3;  
> —https://twitter.com/Helseivich  
> —https://curiouscat.me/Helseivich


	14. 「 episode 14; arc 0.9b 」 —fragments of cipher//fate— 「 historia ii 」

**「** **episode 14; arc 0.9b** **」 —fragments of cipher//fate— 「** **historia ii 」**

 **((12:27am)) edenbutterfly >>** _umm...hi! can i ask you something?  
_

In the middle of a chilly summer night, a completely awake Hyejoo blinked.

The near silence of her practically pitch black room was disturbed by a chiming sound which quietly rang out from the virtually muted speakers of her computer. The sound was simultaneous with the spawning of a chat window within the overlay of the game she was playing, one she had been spending most of her free time with the past few months.

Hyejoo stared in confusion at the singular source of light in her room. On her screen, another player stood in front of her. Their character was targeting her, idly looking at her. Bearing the name edenbutterfly, it was the same person who had just messaged her. 

 **((12:28am)) edenbutterfly >>** _oh, maybe you’re afk...or you just don’t have time to help someone like me aaa i’ll go bother someone else aaaaaa i’m sorry_

Hyejoo sighed as she quietly ran a hand through her locks of jet black, her palm ultimately resting on her forehead unobstructed by bangs.

Though the game was an MMORPG, a genre that was touted as a wonderful experience for connecting with like-minded individuals online, the teenage girl had always kept to herself as she preferred to both online and in real life. She never went out of her way to interact with other players, happy to experience the game’s single player content on her own and especially content to completely ignore messages from whatever party members she might be stuck assisting in group-based activities.

Thus, utterly detached from others in every way, Hyejoo was experiencing difficulty trying to muster up any reason she should actually reply.

 **((12:29am)) edenbutterfly >> ** _wait what we’re the only ones in this zone. there’s no one else to ask for help!! i guess i should teleport to another area??_ _  
_ **((12:29am)) edenbutterfly >> ** _actually let’s take a step back and figure out HOW to teleport in the first place! yeah that might help! a lot!!_ **  
** **((12:30am)) edenbutterfly >> **_...um. on the off chance you aren’t afk, do you know how to get to the zone menu to fast travel? i promise i’ll leave you alone after this i’m sorryyy_

With deadpan eyes, Hyejoo blinked hard at the stranger talking to themselves in her private message window.

Already prepared to depart the area to venture on a quest she had just accepted, Hyejoo was ready to leave the player to their devices with silent well wishes that they would eventually figure things out. Curiosity got the better of her, however, as she made the correlation between their visible lack of worthwhile armor in tandem with their lack of knowing how to do something as basic as teleporting to another zone.

Lazily, Hyejoo closed the opened zone menu on her screen and instead clicked on the other player’s character. Pulling up her information, she was surprised to see that they were still outfitted in gear meant for a level one character despite being level eleven. A running timer on the statistics tab of their character window informed Hyejoo of their total consecutive playtime. 

Three hours.

“Even at three hours of playtime, you should already have higher leveled equipment...if you don’t know how to open the zone menu, do you also not know how to put on new gear?” Hyejoo’s thoughts came alive in a murmur, dumbfounded and unaware of what to make of the discovery. “Did you skip the tutorial or something…?”

For a moment which lasted longer than it felt, Hyejoo considered once again leaving the new player to discover the answers they sought on their own. Much like always, she didn’t particularly feel a pressing need to interact with others. 

Different from the vast majority of the people she had come to know in life through school and other online games, Hyejoo was entirely comfortable with the company of only herself. While some parents saw such a development as a sometimes incorrect sign of anxiety or depression, her mother understood it as her child’s preferences and nothing more, supporting Hyejoo’s solidarity to the fullest throughout her developmental years. 

She wasn’t socially inept by any degree, more than capable of suffering through group projects in her classes and half-heartedly talking to people when absolutely required. If there was a chance to disconnect from the world and be by herself with zero communication, however, Hyejoo seized the opportunity without hesitation every time. 

As a result, authentic friendship was an alien concept to her, one that she didn’t care to experience. Others in her classes made a sport of discreetly chastising her for it—she was the daily recipient of unpleasant glares and mean-spirited gossip. 

Yet, even through the trials and tribulations of peer pressure and the woes of adolescence, Hyejoo endured. 

With her mother’s encouragement and succor, she had accepted that she was different and she knew that there was nothing wrong with it. Hyejoo had her found her happiness as a lone wolf and refused to change herself to match what people thought she should have been.

Thus, it was due to this exact reason that Hyejoo found it baffling that she was still even standing next to the other player at all as they ran circles around her character, jumping randomly and spinning in place at times.

She didn’t need to talk to them. She didn’t even particularly _want_ to talk to them.

But unlike every other instance prior, she couldn’t will herself to simply walk away.

 **((12:34am)) edenbutterfly >> ** _wait does teleporting costs gold? oh god i hope not i spent everything i had on loot boxes so i could get those cosmetic butterfly wings…and they didn’t even drop..._ _  
_ **((12:34am)) edenbutterfly >> ** _if it does...i’d have to walk back!! aaa its so farrrrr. um i guess i could do some quests...if there’s anything even here appropriate for my level??_  
**((12:35am)) edenbutterfly >> **_aaa hold on! hold on!! why am i still even in this message window!! you’re gonna come back and think i’m dumb for real!! ok!! i’m sorry to have bothered you!!_

As she watched the one-sided conversation advance down her screen, Hyejoo could not shake the puzzling feeling that she should respond. Of the hundreds of times she had completely disregarded inquiries and messages in her hundreds of hours in the game, never before had she ever experienced such a feeling. 

The more she tried to reason with herself to simply leave the player behind like all of the rest before them, the more it grew within her—unhappiness. For reasons beyond her understanding, she was becoming unhappy with the idea of not sending this specific player a message back, as if she were destined to do so. 

As if fate were real, and as if it was meant to happen, no matter what.

Hyejoo sighed with another pass of her hand through her hair. She briefly pulled at it with worriment bred from confusion before her fingers returned to the keyboard.

 **((12:36am)) egoist1311 >> ** _teleporting does cost gold._

 _Couldn’t hurt to help out someone_ **_this_ ** _new,_ she thought to herself with an entirely neutral expression, rationalizing her actions under an excuse she could only assume to be true. _Just this once._

 **((12:36am)) egoist1311 >> ** _it’s not much, but it does get more expensive with distance._ _  
_ **((12:36am)) egoist1311 >> ** _if you’re completely broke, i can give you some._ _  
_ **((12:37am)) egoist1311 >> ** _but if you still have a question about the game, i can try to help you._ _  
_ **((12:37am)) edenbutterfly >> ** _...have you been there this whole time_ _  
_ **((12:37am)) egoist1311 >> ** _yeah._  
**((12:37am)) edenbutterfly >> **_AAAAAAAAAAAA_

To Hyejoo’s own surprise, for the first time in the longest while she could remember, someone other than her mother had just put a smile on Hyejoo’s face. It was so small that one could wonder if it could even really be considered a smile, but it was there all the same.

And as the other player began to type back to her, occasionally stopping to jump in place or run another circle around her, the smile on Hyejoo’s face widened ever so slightly.

「 ➤➤➤ ★ ➤➤➤ 」

The corrupted girl tilted her head at an inhumanly slow speed as she looked to the group. 

Sooyoung’s full attention was set upon the state of the girl’s left eye—downright consumed by a shining flood of lavender darkness. The sight of it made her tense up with deeply seated nervousness, the entirety of her focus engaged in overtly staring at it.

“What the hell?” Jungeun muttered nigh inaudibly. Her eyes welled with utmost incredulity as she got a better look at the girl’s face—the entire left half of it was a malaised shade of gray close to black, her manastream underneath wriggling madly as it came close to the surface of her skin. “How is she still…?”

Nonplussed amazement and fearful uncertainty coexisted in perfect balance within Haseul’s mind at the sight of the girl. “To not have succumbed to the corruption like the others...her threshold must be leagues beyond anything we’ve ever seen,” she suggested, mystified through and through.

“The threads of Fate may have laid a course for her that has allowed her to persist beyond that of the others here...though while her threshold may be unimaginable, I fear she may be nearing it all the same,” Jiwoo presumed, her eyes stuck on the branches of the girl’s befouled manastream trying to break through the epidermis of her cheek.

“Chaewon.”

Sooyoung’s voice was sudden, coming into existence the exact instant that the smaller girl took a step forward. Chaewon paused, keeping her attention to the corrupted girl down the road as Sooyoung walked up next to her.

“Not this one,” Sooyoung instructed quietly, her focus still entirely set upon the girl’s consumed eye. The others’ attention was drawn to it as well when Sooyoung highlighted its presence. “Her eye...there’s a chance that she’s Absolute, or something close enough to it. Don't get close.”

“There’s no way of knowing that, Sooyoung!” Haseul immediately protested, taking issue with Sooyoung’s logic. “To assume she’s in a state of Absolution and that we shouldn’t help her because of it...it’s much more probable it’s simply a side effect of the severity of the corruption she’s suffering from! There’s a chance she isn’t even a magus!”

“Because she doesn’t have a weapon out or any mana near her? Neither do we,” Sooyoung said firmly, slaying the flimsy argument. “That eye color isn’t exactly normal for standard corruption, either.”

“It’s entirely much more probable that it was the result of a darkness-aligned fiend specifically being the one to corrupt her!”

“Probability doesn’t matter here.”

Sooyoung’s words smashed through Haseul like a rock through brittle glass, leaving the woman of wind without refutation as she spoke. “It doesn’t matter how unlikely it is. The fact that there’s even the smallest chance that she’s gone Absolute means we can’t risk saving her whatsoever. Not without knowing what her final thought was before the transference of consciousness, and trying to find that out might provoke her.”

“I want to save her. Believe me, I do,” Sooyoung assured the group after a brief pause as she looked back to the corrupted girl. Her focus shifted to Sooyoung, curiously peering at her from afar with her flooded eye. “But this isn’t something we can take lightly. We don’t know what she’s capable of, how she’ll react to an approach or to purification...anything could be a trigger for her to attack us.”

“Sorry, Chaewon, but not this one. Not her,” Sooyoung decreed, her eyes falling slightly. “There’s no one here for us to save. Let’s head back.”

Sooyoung’s injunction stirred in the air for a moment as the group stared down the girl down the street. Her head tilted ever so slightly further as focused onto Chaewon again, the girl of light’s eyes narrowing.

The sight of the corrupted girl had set something off within Chaewon. It was a potent, indomitable  compulsion to act. A driving force within her which prevented her from standing still, try as she might to accept Sooyoung’s ruling. 

For reasons beyond her understanding, she was becoming unhappy with the idea of not making an attempt to save the girl, as if she were destined to do so. 

As if fate were real, and as if it was meant to happen, no matter what.

Thus did she take another step forward.

“Chaewon.”

And thus was she stopped once more, her path forward halted by the flat edge of a frozen greatsword nearly as large as her own body.

With unthinkable speed, Sooyoung had summoned her weapon in her extended hand ahead of Chaewon, keeping her from getting closer. Equipped with grievous concern on her face, she brought her eyes to the Intermediate sorceress as she repeated herself for a third time, her words emphasized and far more serious than before.

“Not this one. Not her.”

“I refuse to do to her what my parents did to me, Sooyoung.”

Sooyoung’s eyes widened alongside the other three sorceresses behind her as the unstoppable girl of light dared to press onward still, her light voice teeming with consummate perseverance as she stepped towards Sooyoung’s blade.

“I refuse to leave her to die alone.”

Unable to react properly in time to Chaewon’s unremitting determination to save a lost soul, the swordswoman could only drop her weapon in a slight panic. She was immensely relieved to see it disintegrate completely before Chaewon made any form of physical contact with it. 

Free to proceed, Chaewon continued down the road. With a slow, steady exhale, her body gradually became enveloped in a soft coat of her beige mana. Sooyoung’s discarded panic swiftly returned in full force, concern for Chaewon’s well being and uncertainty of how the corrupted girl would react to her forward march causing her to shout in anticipation of the worst.

“Chaewon!”

“If we don’t try to save her—if I don’t try to even just talk to her, she’s going to die alone,” Chaewon maintained, her normally quiet voice raising in magnitude as she spoke over her senior. “I need to speak with her...to look her in the eye and acknowledge her presence. That is the very least I can do for her, because she deserves that much, just like anyone else.”

With Chaewon’s proclamation, damaging memories that Jungeun and Jiwoo had long since cast aside were freshly summoned within their minds. With their resurgence, so too did the disrespect they suffered during their darkest hours rise again. 

And with their resurgence, the normally calm waters of Jiwoo’s demeanor had quickly become a raging tsunami.

Ever multiplying worry for the risked longevity of a friend she considered family compelled Sooyoung to step forward after her again. An absolute directive from behind her, however, cut her plans short.

“Do not stop her, Sooyoung. Not yet.”

Stunned, Sooyoung turned halfway and faced the sorceress who brought her to a halt. It was the last person she ever expected to hear raising their tone in any capacity.

Jiwoo was looking at her in a fashion both beseeching and commanding, her odd eye of azure shining brilliantly as she held an outstretched arm. Over her open hand, a semitransparent sphere of crystal cobalt had just finished materializing from her mana. It floated gently just above her palm, water swaying within its insides.

“Not before I obtain insight from the Arcana to better understand what may await her along the threads of Fate.”

「 ⮜⮜⮜ ★ ⮜⮜⮜ 」

 **((7:41am)) edenbutterfly >> ** _okay this is way more fun now wow!! you were right the level 36 skill makes such a huge difference :o_ _  
_ **((7:41am)) egoist1311 >> ** _yeah, it ties the whole kit for that class together, really. just sucks that you have to wait that long to unlock it._ _  
_ **((7:41am)) egoist1311 >> ** _it was literally unplayable for me before then._ _  
_ **((7:41am)) edenbutterfly >> ** _i still can’t imagine you healing at all!! your character looks way too cool to do something like that! the scythe you have matches your armor so well and everything_ _  
_ **((7:41am)) egoist1311 >> ** _i mean, i’ll heal if i have to, but playing DPS is way more enjoyable for me._ _  
_ **((7:42am)) edenbutterfly >> ** _well i really like healing now so that works out great :)_ _  
_ **((7:42am)) edenbutterfly >> ** _wait_ _  
_ **((7:42am)) egoist1311 >> ** _?_ _  
_ **((7:42am)) edenbutterfly >> ** _why is the sun is rising._ _  
_ **((7:42am)) egoist1311 >> ** _oh. huh._  
**((7:42am)) edenbutterfly >> **_when did it become nearly 8am what the HECK_

With a considerable yawn, Hyejoo leaned back in her chair with a relieving stretch. Filtered sunlight was attempting to break into her room from behind her blockade of curtains. She could hear her mother going about their home beyond her door, no doubt making preparations to leave for work.

Free for a spell from her obligation to a required education, the act of staying up well into the morning hours with her games was nothing new for Hyejoo during her summer vacations. What _was_ completely new to her, however, was the fact that she was still interacting with the player that had messaged her without warning seven hours prior.

And what was surprising was that the past seven hours of nonstop play with them had been her most enjoyable experience not just with this game in particular, but of any game she had ever spent time with. The time flew faster than it ever had before, the company of her new friend turning hours into minutes and minutes into seconds.

As Hyejoo watched her private message window notify her of her companion typing a message, she blinked as she realized it.

Without really meaning to, she had made a friend. 

Or, at the very least, she considered them a friend. She must have. There would have been no other reason to continue messaging and playing with them after she helped them out initially. Though she had to wonder if the feeling was mutual...but before Hyejoo could even question it proper, she was preemptively given an answer.

 **((7:43am)) edenbutterfly >> ** _i can’t believe i really just spent nearly eight hours straight playing this game aaa what the heck!! i mean it was a ton of fun and i made a new friend now and that’s great but!! eight hours!! without really moving from my seat!!! like at all!!! my butt hurts!!!!_

As Hyejoo smiled with a giggle that transformed into another yawn halfway, she felt it.

An uncomfortable anxiety was vying for dominion over her headspace, engaged in battle with the felicity that currently ruled over it.

There was no questioning the joyous warmth that Hyejoo felt in knowing that her sudden friendship wasn’t one-sided. Yet, as someone who primarily subsisted on the satisfaction of her own company, inexperience paved the way for fear of the unknown. The only other person she considered a friend was her mother, yet even then they lived quiet lives with not much in the way of interaction aside from dinner and the occasional round of shopping.

So then what exactly did friendship truly mean and entail?

Hyejoo didn’t need a dictionary to understand the basic concept. An emotional connection fostered through time spent with another individual, enjoying activities together along with one another’s company. But was there more to it? Was she missing something? A key concept that would lead to deeper understanding and that would allow her to actually _be_ a friend? Or was it truly so simple?

A stirring negativity brewed within the pit of her mind as she deliberated the question far more than she should have for far longer than she should have. Hyejoo’s tendency for excessive overthinking had clung to her since her youth, and in that instant it took shape as it always did. 

It drove her anxiety to new heights, erratically clawing at her mind from the inside—the inharmonious duality that came from experiencing a proper bond for the first time. Learning how rich it was to experience a legitimate connection was immensely fulfilling, yet the exact same rapture that came from it was precisely what drove her mad with fear. Restless tension shrouded her mind, worried she would ruin something in some capacity by some means at some point, forfeiting what she had just gained. 

What she now realized she wanted to keep.

At some point during her bout of overstrung distress, Hyejoo had started to dig at the wood of her desk. Catching her own habit, she took a deep breath as she brought her eyes back to the screen. It was only then that she realized what she missed during her panic and how long it actually lasted.

And as she read it line by line, it vanished.

 **((7:44am)) edenbutterfly >> ** _man was i really level 11 when we started? you helped me gain levels so fast aaa thank you :)_ _  
_ **((7:45am)) edenbutterfly >> ** _actually thinking about you helped me with literally everything jeez i would have been so lost without you_ _  
_ **((7:47am)) edenbutterfly >> ** _oh but you didn’t level up even once :( well i guess that was sort of to be expected since you’re...uh………...level 104………….but yeah…_ _  
_ **((7:49am)) edenbutterfly >> ** _wow thinking about it uh were any of the dungeons we did even worthwhile to you then? did i really just drag you through old boring content for like no reason aaa_ _  
_ **((7:51am)) edenbutterfly >> ** _and you actually had to protect me a lot with your defensive skills...i’m trying to be better about not getting hit by attacks and stuff but it’s still a little tricky, so you keep having to run to my side to help me :(_ _  
_ **((7:53am)) edenbutterfly >> ** _um, are you still there? your afk symbol hasn’t kicked in yet_  
**((7:56am)) edenbutterfly >> **_i’m really sorry if i made you waste your night helping me..._

Every ounce of growing worry and every speck of doubt in her mind...it vanished.

Hyejoo’s fingers were particularly furious with speed as she went about completely displacing her friend’s worries much like they did her own.

 **((7:56am)) egoist1311 >> ** _it wasn’t a waste._ _  
_ **((7:56am)) egoist1311 >> ** _i don’t really care that the dungeons we ran weren’t relevant for me at my level._ _  
_ **((7:56am)) egoist1311 >> ** _i had a lot of fun playing with you._ _  
_ **((7:56am)) egoist1311 >> ** _getting to teach someone about a game i’m really into was pretty cool, too._ _  
_ **((7:57am)) egoist1311 >> ** _so don’t worry. i don’t regret any of it._  
**((7:57am)) edenbutterfly >> **_aaaaaa thank you!!!!! that means a lot to me i appreciate it!_

A full-blown smile was plastered on Hyejoo’s face, wide enough that she felt it end to end.

 **((7:57am)) edenbutterfly >> ** _oh! i meant to ask earlier, but what’s your name?_ _  
_ **((7:57am)) egoist1311 >> ** _it’s hyejoo._ _  
_ **((7:57am)) edenbutterfly >> ** _aaa hyejoo! that’s a pretty name!! i’m chaewon. it’s nice to meet you!!_ _  
_ **((7:57am)) egoist1311 >> ** _i think we’re a little late for that._ _  
_ **((7:58am)) egoist1311 >> ** _well, seven hours is more than a little, but yeah. it’s nice to meet you, too._ _  
_ **((7:58am)) edenbutterfly >> ** _better late than never :)_ _  
_ **((7:58am)) edenbutterfly >> ** _but speaking of late! the time!! it’s very very late!! or early!!! whatever!!!! so i think i’m gonna go to bed! but...um..._  
**((7:58am)) edenbutterfly >> **_would you want to play more tomorrow…?_

Hyejoo felt an out-of-place emotion run its course through her body. 

It was a feeling normally reserved for whenever she finally got to start a new game she was looking forward to or whenever she got lucky with an especially rare item drop. She had never experienced it due to another person before, adding a new dimension to it that she was only comprehending for the first time.

It was boundless excitement, and the only physical representation of it she could display was the urgency with which she answered Chaewon’s question.

 **((7:58am)) egoist1311 >> ** _yeah, i’ll be around all day. just send me a message when you get on._ _  
_ **((7:58am)) egoist1311 >> ** _we’ll see how many more levels we can get you._ _  
_ **((7:58am)) egoist1311 >> ** _if you’re still enjoying the game when you reach my level, we can go through the newer story quests and dungeons together._ _  
_ **((7:59am)) edenbutterfly >> ** _yay! that sounds like a lot of fun! ’m looking forward to it!!_  
**((7:59am)) edenbutterfly >> **_oh, i think that means i should do this :)_

Hyejoo’s raised eyebrow was replaced with warmth spreading across her face when she saw the notification appear on the center of her screen.

 **「 You have one new friend request. 」** **  
** **「 PLAYER NAME: edenbutterfly 」** **  
** **「 Accept? 」** **  
** **「 YES // NO 」**

With her cursor hovering over the button labeled “YES,” the last of the fear of uncertainty that previously plagued Hyejoo’s mind was swept away without consequence as she clicked it. 

Hyejoo giggled cutely to herself as Chaewon began to excitedly jump in place with the friend request accepted, her character’s name now colored blue instead of gray.

 **((8:00am)) edenbutterfly >> ** _ok! that was very fun! now it’s time to sleep so i can wake up at 4pm and have lunch for breakfast! great! cool! i am a responsible person!!_ _  
_ **((8:00am)) edenbutterfly >> ** _good night hyejoo!!_ _  
_ **((8:00am)) egoist1311 >> ** _sleep well. i’ll talk to you tomorrow._  
**((8:00am)) edenbutterfly >> **_promise? :)_

Hyejoo’s eyes sharpened slightly.

Unfeigned loyalty emanated from the smile on her face as she made an oath she intended to uphold.

 **((8:00am)) egoist1311 >> ** _yeah. i promise._

「 ➤➤➤ ★ ➤➤➤ 」

Jiwoo’s request resulted in the manifestation of Sooyoung’s annoyance, subsisting right next to the fear of uncertainty in her mind as she watched Chaewon continue forward still. 

The swordswoman’s eyes returned to Jiwoo, plain disagreement clear on her face. “This isn’t the time for this, Jiwoo. We don’t know what that girl might be capable of. I won’t sit here and risk Chaewon’s life just because the odds are in our favor.”

“Probability doesn’t matter.”

Sooyoung froze up completely as Jiwoo mirrored her own sentiments with an exceedingly solemn look on her face.

“There may be a chance that this course of action results in the loss of life, this much is true,” Jiwoo agreed, “but there may also be a chance that this was meant to be, no matter the outcome. Such will be the focus of this divination.”

“No matter the outcome…? Hold on, you aren’t seriously saying—”

“Three Arcana. One divination. That is all I require.”

For as masterfully versed Sooyoung’s control over ice was, she found her patience placed upon an incredibly thin sheet of it as Jiwoo interrupted her only to completely ignore her question. 

At her waist, Sooyoung’s hand curled into an agitated fist. Her approval came under strict conditions as her vision shifted back to Chaewon. “If that girl moves so much as a single muscle, I’m grabbing Chaewon and we’re getting out of here, no questions asked. No matter what you draw. No matter if it was ‘meant to be.’”

“I understand,” Jiwoo complied. “Then allow me to begin.”

With a silent breath, Jiwoo birthed three thin streams of her mana. 

Her eyes remained entirely on Sooyoung as her blue dust extended towards Chaewon’s aura, slowly mixing with it until the entirety of the streams were aspected with both of their essences. If Chaewon noticed it, she didn’t care to react to it as she silently continued her carefully slow stride through the sea of corpses towards the corrupted girl.

Jiwoo’s eye effulged passionately as the ends of the combined mana closest to her shifted towards her crystal ball. Seeping through the surface of it into the clear liquid within, the fused mana mixed with the water. Gradually, the innards of Jiwoo’s manifestation of prophecies underwent a transmutation into the same blend and blue and beige.

Sooyoung was quiet as Jiwoo began a show she had seen countless times in the past two years already, though never before with as much heated conviction as was currently present in her eyes. Haseul and Jungeun watched in earnest as well, Jiwoo’s free hand still tightly latched onto one of Haseul’s.

In quick intervals, the modified water began to ripple as Jiwoo’s odd eye pulsed with light. Three times in matched harmony, a pulse for a ripple and a ripple for a pulse. With each set, the water in the crystal ball receded in equivalent thirds, the separated liquid pressing into the inner surface of its prison away from the small body of water. And with each set, Jiwoo’s eyes grew ever slightly wider.

“To be connected to such a spread of Arcana at this point in time…I see. Ordained by Fate itself, then...”

Jiwoo’s ominous vagueness did not help to ease Sooyoung’s misgivings.

After the third flash of Jiwoo’s aqueous iris, the entirety of the sphere’s fluid was pushing against the inside of its spherical cell. It attempted to break free of its entrapment, and with one final pulse of light from Jiwoo’s odd eye, it accomplished its goal.

Jiwoo’s crystal ball splintered into hundreds of pieces of varying sizes. The water remained whole for only a moment before diverting three separate ways, creating a trio of tall vertically standing rectangles moderate in width. Arranged in a row and shaped like cards, that was precisely what they became as the beige-blue water dissipated back into mixed mana. In that same instant, they immediately coalesced once again, forming blank cards of the same colors. 

All the while, the fragmented shards of the ball redirected themselves behind Jiwoo. They took the vague shape of a humanoid figure, taller than her by a slight margin. Only the limbs were fully complete, its torso vacant with only an outer shell composed of the crystal ball’s much smaller pieces. It stood still, moving only slightly enough that it appeared as if it were breathing.

Her preparations complete, Jiwoo made a bid for Sooyoung’s attention with a grave look in her eyes. As she spoke with heavensent cosmic confidence, Sooyoung was left speechless at the abnormal sight of Jiwoo’s sudden ethereality. 

“While I know not what it will ultimately lead to, I have ascertained one thing for certain,” the prophetess announced. 

“Our friend is about to drastically alter her own future, and thus, by proxy, our futures as well. Yet, no matter what may come from it in the immediate present or in the distant future, we absolutely must not intervene. Chaewon _must_ speak to that girl. It is meant to happen.”

Sooyoung’s speechlessness mutated into exasperation at the suggestion of simply letting someone close to her walk to their potential demise. Veins in her wrist and forearm popped slightly as her fingernails sank into the flesh of her closed palm. “Jiwoo—”

“Allow me to reveal the Arcana that the threads of Fate have connected to Chaewon at this present moment in time,” Jiwoo immediately interrupted Sooyoung once again, unflinchingly headstrong against the older sorceress’ protests. “I will divulge the insight I have gained and you will understand why I am so especially adamant about this divination in particular.”

「 ⮜⮜⮜ ★ ⮜⮜⮜ 」

 **((1:54pm)) egoist1311 >> **_did you get the weapon, chaewon?_ _  
_**((1:54pm)) edenbutterfly >> **_no :( it just won’t drop_ _  
_**((1:54pm)) egoist1311 >> **_i’ll queue us back in then._ _  
_**((1:54pm)) edenbutterfly >> **_nnnno we’ve run it 23 times now! in a row!! without stopping!!! we need to take a break!_ _  
_**((1:55pm)) egoist1311 >> **_23 runs is nothing. you’re_ _weak._  
**((1:55pm)) edenbutterfly >> **_and you’re mean! hyejoo the meanie!! :( i have to leave in a little bit anyway, because...uh...well i can explain that later!! break time now okay thanks!_

The combined light from a trio of computer monitors was aimed straight at Hyejoo’s beaming face.

Seated next to a player she had spent more time with than she could even begin to calculate, the two enjoyed each other’s company in a quiet forest area far away from the presence of others. Hyejoo watched the private message window on the in-game overlay expectantly, genuinely smiling at the visual indicator of her best friend actively sending her a message.

 **((1:55pm)) edenbutterfly >> ** _hey wait a second...isn’t this…?_ _  
_ **((1:55pm)) egoist1311 >> ** _hm?_

Hyejoo watched Chaewon run a circle around a specific tree with her character before sprinting back towards Hyejoo’s. She enthusiastically jumped in place for a moment before she started typing again.

 **((1:56pm)) edenbutterfly >> ** _it is! this is zone we first met in four years ago!! i hadn’t even realized we ended up wandering in here as we ran around the map while waiting for our queues!!_ _  
_ **((1:56pm)) egoist1311 >> ** _you means it’s already been four years since i saved you from bankruptcy?_ _  
_ **((1:57pm)) edenbutterfly >> ** _uh...you’re not...Wrong...but..._ _  
_ **((1:57pm)) egoist1311 >> ** _and since i taught you how to play the game because you thought you could get by without the tutorials?_ **  
** **((1:57pm)) edenbutterfly >> **_ok yes! i was terrible thank you very much for the reminder hyejoo! i get it!_

In the midst of taking a drink, Hyejoo nearly drenched her keyboard in water as she broke into a giggle.

Putting her water bottle down, Hyejoo’s speakers made a noise as another message from Chaewon came through. Reading it gave rise to a mellowness within Hyejoo, as did most of her interactions with the girl.

 **((1:58pm)) edenbutterfly >> ** _god you were 16 and i was 18...that feels like it was yesterday!!_ _  
_ **((1:58pm)) egoist1311 >> ** _yeah. now we’re old hags._ _  
_ **((1:58pm)) edenbutterfly >> ** _don’t say thattttt :(_ _  
_ **((1:58pm)) edenbutterfly >> ** _oh, that reminds me!_ _  
_ **((1:58pm)) egoist1311 >> ** _the fact that we’re hags reminds you of something?_ _  
_ **((1:58pm)) edenbutterfly >> ** _NO hyejoo! the other thing!! the part where you were 16 and i was 18!!_ _  
_ **((1:58pm)) edenbutterfly >> ** _can i ask you something about that time…?_ _  
_ **((1:59pm)) egoist1311 >> ** _no._  
**((1:59pm)) edenbutterfly >> **_oh okay bye_

Hyejoo’s pure laughter reigned free as Chaewon’s character slowly began to walk away from hers, only to immediately run back up to her and gesture angrily at her deadpan sarcasm.

The final words of Chaewon’s proceeding message, however, induced a downward shift in Hyejoo’s expression. 

 **((2:00pm)) edenbutterfly >> ** _i’ve been curious for a really long time now, hyejoo. on that night we first met...why did you reply to my messages?_

Not quite certain how to answer, Hyejoo’s fingers struck her keyboard with a fraction of their usual agility.

 **((2:00pm)) egoist1311 >> ** _what exactly do you mean?_ _  
_ **((2:01pm)) edenbutterfly >> ** _well you still don’t really talk to anyone else right? you hardly respond to anything in guild chat or party chat, and given by how you’ve recently told me that you still feel the most comfortable when you’re alone in real life aside from when i visit you..._  
**((2:02pm)) edenbutterfly >> **_i guess i’m just. kind of curious as to why you let me specifically into your world, hyejoo. especially with how it all started...i just didn’t expect to get acknowledged by a high level player, especially when i was spamming their messages with dumb newbie questions_

Hyejoo’s eyes repositioned themselves upwards as she read the messages again. And then a third time, and a fourth.

She took a deep breath as she scoured her mind for an answer to Chaewon’s inquiry that she herself was fully satisfied with. When she came up short, she could only answer the girl’s question with a question of her own.

 **((2:04pm)) egoist1311 >> ** _do you believe in fate?_

As Hyejoo began to explain herself as best she could, she occasionally stopped to see if Chaewon had started typing. She didn’t, allowing Hyejoo the stage.

 **((2:04pm)) egoist1311 >> ** _i think about it every now and again._ _  
_ **((2:04pm)) egoist1311 >> ** _and fate is the only answer that ever seems to explain it._ _  
_ **((2:04pm)) egoist1311 >> ** _as much as i don’t like it as an answer._ _  
_ **((2:04pm)) egoist1311 >> ** _i don’t know that i really believe in the idea of it. but there’s no other way to describe it._ _  
_ **((2:04pm)) egoist1311 >> ** _i was ready to ignore your messages. imagined you’d eventually just figure it out on your own._ _  
_ **((2:05pm)) egoist1311 >> ** _but something was seriously compelling me to message you back._ _  
_ **((2:05pm)) egoist1311 >> ** _the idea of not acknowledging you made me unhappy, to be honest._ _  
_ **((2:05pm)) egoist1311 >> ** _i don’t know why it was you specifically._ _  
_ **((2:05pm)) egoist1311 >> ** _not that i’m complaining._ _  
_ **((2:05pm)) egoist1311 >> ** _i’m happy it was you._ _  
_ **((2:05pm)) egoist1311 >> ** _aside from my mother, you’re the only other person i’ve ever really consider a friend. you’re the only person i care to talk to. the only person i’ve ever wanted to connect with._ _  
_ **((2:05pm)) egoist1311 >> ** _but. i just. i couldn’t tell you why it was you of all people._ _  
_ **((2:05pm)) egoist1311 >> ** _the only answer that makes sense to me is that i was meant to talk to you, because i just don’t know why else i would be so unhappy with the thought of not doing so._ _  
_ **((2:06pm)) egoist1311 >> ** _but i don’t think it’s a good answer. i wish i had an answer that could highlight what you really mean to me. but that’s what it feels like it was._ _  
_ **((2:06pm)) egoist1311 >> ** _like it was meant to be._  
**((2:06pm)) egoist1311 >> **_like it was fate._

Hyejoo retracted her fingers from her keyboard slowly. She inhaled deeply through her nose and exhaled slowly through her mouth, hoping that she didn’t just offend the person she was closest to in any capacity.

Slumping in her seat slightly, she stared hard at the private message window as she waited for Chaewon’s response. Every passing second without the indication of her typing back was rapidly causing worries in Hyejoo’s head to evolve. The circuits in her mind were beginning to surcharge with unnecessary thoughts, on the brink of overthinking in full.

When she finally was given notice of Chaewon’s upcoming reply, however, they came to a stop as her nerves eased ever so slightly. 

Her nerves eased again, this time by a massive degree, when she received Chaewon’s first message.

 **((2:07pm)) edenbutterfly >> **_i don’t think it’s a bad answer at all_ _:)_

Hyejoo’s smile gradually returned to her as Chaewon shared her thoughts.

 **((2:07pm)) edenbutterfly >> ** _you know, this is still the only mmo i play_ _  
_ **((2:08pm)) edenbutterfly >> ** _the genre still really isn’t my kind of thing, honestly. even after 4 years on this game i still prefer simpler games with cute characters and stuff on my portable systems way more_ _  
_ **((2:09pm)) edenbutterfly >> ** _and that’s what made me so confused when i first saw this game. i was looking for a new game to buy, and i had plenty of choices that better fit my tastes, but then i saw this one and i just...couldn’t imagine not buying it for some reason. there’s no way i would normally drop money on an mmo like this, but on that day specifically, seeing this specific game…_ _  
_ **((2:10pm)) edenbutterfly >> ** _i felt the same as you described. for some weird reason, the idea of not buying it and playing it was making me really anxious and maybe even a little depressed, i think. like some part of my subconscious or something just knew that there was something waiting for me in this world that would be worth my time_ _  
_ **((2:11pm)) edenbutterfly >> ** _and, i mean...it ended up being right. i found you, and i’m really glad. I couldn’t have imagined i’d meet someone so important to me playing an mmo of all things...but here you are!!_  
**((2:11pm)) edenbutterfly >>** _so, yeah...maybe it was fate. who knows? whatever it was, i’m just happy i met you. thanks for acknowledging me back then, hyejoo. i hope we can stay friends forever :)_

Resplendent warmth.

It surged through Hyejoo in waves, pausing her heart for one moment and her mind for several. With exuberance beyond compare flowing within her, she replied.

 **((2:12pm)) egoist1311 >> ** _of course we will._ _  
_ **((2:12pm)) edenbutterfly >> ** _can you promise me?_  
  
Hyejoo’s eyes sharpened slightly.

 **((2:12pm)) edenbutterfly >> ** _that we’ll never grow apart, and that you’ll always protect me just like you always have._ _  
_ **((2:12pm)) edenbutterfly >> ** _promise? :)_

Unfeigned loyalty emanated from the smile on her face as she made an oath she intended to uphold.

 **((2:12pm)) egoist1311 >> ** _i promise._ _  
_ **((2:12pm)) edenbutterfly >> ** _thank you, hyejoo. ♥_

The smile that Hyejoo was blessed with in that moment lingered for a collective second before it was cruelly taken away from her.

Trembling in fear, her eyes had gone wide. With shaking hands, she nervously moved her fingers through it. She had hoped she wasn’t seeing things properly, that she was simply mistaken.

But when her fingers displaced the small cloud of dust before her, there was no disputing it.

Untold dread stormed her body and mind in tandem as she stared at the lavender cloud before her. Her vision focused on it, the computer screen ahead becoming blurred and its contents illegible. Though her speakers alerted her of new messages, the hopeless despair that had come to life within her prevented her from hearing it.

 **((2:13pm)) edenbutterfly >> ** _oh, um, about why i have to log off soon..._ _  
_ **((2:13pm)) edenbutterfly >> ** _it’s actually because i brought a train ticket so i could come visit! :)_ _  
_ **((2:13pm)) edenbutterfly >> ** _it’s been a little while since we’ve gotten to hang out in real life, and you said you’d be home all weekend, so i kind of bought it on impulse…_  
**((2:13pm)) edenbutterfly >> **_i’m sorry i didn’t really ask before buying it, but there’s something that i really want to talk to you about, and i think it should really be in person...even if it makes me kind of nervous..._

“Hyejoo, lunch is…”

Olivia’s voice entered the room alongside the sound of her bedroom door opening, but just as soon as it started, it stopped.

The one-eyed woman fell silent upon the sight of her petrified daughter calling forth spiritus.

Hyejoo slowly turned her head towards her mother. Bedeviled with terror, the young adult was speechless as they quietly looked at one another. The signs of history on Olivia’s face deepened as she gradually processed the sight, as if the new reality before her had managed to add several years to her already fair age in an instant.

Color and life alike drained from Olivia’s eye. Realizing what she had to do, she pursed her lips as she summoned it. 

The courage she thought she had been so kindly spared from ever having to summon again.

With disquieting tranquility, Olivia silently turned around and vanished from Hyejoo’s sight down the hall. In her downright panic, the newly awakened necromancer leapt out of her chair after her mother, tears already beginning to stream down her face. All the while, her spiritus continued to come into existence, cementing the state of her grave peril even further.

The unnerved dissonance that left her thoughts a fractured disaster stole from Hyejoo two things. The first was the understanding of her mother’s well-meaning intentions in the following moments. The second was an opportunity.

 **((2:15pm)) edenbutterfly >> ** _oh and i can finally show you the bracelet i bought! it’s got these really pretty butterfly wings on it that look just like the ones you helped me get when i first started playing!! :)_ **  
** **((2:15pm)) edenbutterfly >> ** _WAIT what the heck its already this late!! i need to run to the station before i miss the train!!_ _  
_ **((2:15pm)) edenbutterfly >> ** _text me when you see this, okay? my train should be getting there around 5 or so, but if you can’t pick me up i’ll just walk to your place!_ _  
_ **((2:15pm)) edenbutterfly >> ** _i’ll see you soon, hyejoo!_  
**((2:15pm)) edenbutterfly >> ♥**

The only opportunity she would ever have to say goodbye.

「 ➤➤➤ ★ ➤➤➤ 」

“Strength, the Seventh, drawn upright and aspected in the realm of physical reality.”

Jiwoo’s voice was focused and clear as the blue pigment of the first card began to vanish.

“Chaewon’s undaunted, undying urge to act with unyielding courage at this very moment. Indifferent of the consequences she may suffer, she forces herself to step forward. What runs through her veins is not blood, but stalwart bravery beyond compare.”

With the disappearance of its blue, an image came to life on the card after Jiwoo’s reading came to a close. A hidden, monotone image in beige of a woman with a fearless glint in her eyes was revealed. She stood over a roaring lion, the mighty beast tamed by virtue of her unflinching valor. Text that ran along the bottom was publicized last after the artwork, further confirming the claims Jiwoo made before anything had even showed itself.

 **「** **arcana the seventh** **★** **strength 」**

“Lovers, the Sixth, drawn upright and aspected in the realm of conscious mentality,” Jiwoo continued, once again speaking ahead of her prophecies.

“Her conscious decision to establish a brand new connection. No matter how long the connection may last, no matter how significant or insignificant it may ultimately be, her choice to connect with someone new is ascertained and validated by her beliefs—the belief that she should acknowledge this girl, even if it puts her in danger, because she doesn’t want her to die alone.”

The image of the second card was divulged in full as Jiwoo’s azure tones removed themselves in favor of Chaewon’s fawn ones. Two women were depicted standing side by side in a lush field, fingers intertwined with hearts on their chests pronounced. An angel looked down on them from above with a warm smile, celebrating their bond.

Much like the previous drawing, Jiwoo had correctly prophesied the Arcana she drew and its meaning with a stout pronouncement ahead of time, all while looking Sooyoung straight in the eyes as the swordswoman’s gaze was set upon the card and its text.

 **「** **arcana the sixth** **★** **lovers 」**

“And the conclusion of the spread which dictates Chaewon’s current placement along the threads of Fate…”

When she brought her eyes back to Jiwoo, Sooyoung felt it. Her eyes did not examine the unveiled image of the final card whatsoever, as she was far too captivated by Jiwoo’s fervent display of the foundation of her beliefs. The core of her faith.

“...the Arcana which binds reality and mentality, connecting them as one…”

It was immeasurably palpable, so provokingly titanic that it could have sundered the very earth they stood upon. 

Sooyoung was without words as she experienced it for the first time—the impossibly faultless indefatigability that she was unaware even slumbered within Jiwoo. It emanated fiercely from her passionate eyes and reverberated from the firm serenity of her composed voice.

“...the Wheel of Fortune, the tenth, drawn upright and aspected in the realm of subconscious spirituality.”

Her ocean paint washed away by waves of beige, the final completed card displayed an image of a large wheel with twelve symbols laid across its edges and center. Intersecting lines ran through it, segmenting it into eight parts. Atop it sat a sword-wielding sphinx, and from the card’s corners, four beings peered down: an angel, an eagle, a lion, and a bull, all adorned with magnificent wings.

“Chaewon is not consciously aware of it yet, but her very existence is,” Jiwoo announced, her voice dripping with conviction. “Every fiber of her subconscious self is privy to the truth at hand, and it is that fact which compels her beyond all reason to acknowledge that girl even despite the dangers.”

Just barely in earshot of the prophet’s asseverations as she neared the corrupted girl, Chaewon’s advance stopped for a sliver of time with Jiwoo’s words.

“Chaewon’s meeting with this girl is a critical turning point in her life. By extension, the girl’s meeting with Chaewon is just as crucial. Their forthcoming interaction is an opportunity that _cannot_ be missed, for it is their only opportunity to form what may become the single most important emotional connection either of them will ever experience in their lives.”

Something akin to an epiphany resonated within Chaewon as she looked onwards towards the corrupted girl. It was as if Jiwoo had just given her the answer to a question she didn’t even know she had been meaning to ask. 

“The unwavering fortitude to step forward even in the face of potentially unknown dangers. The desire to foster a bond that she knows the girl deserves in full. All of it is driven by hidden knowledge that was kept from Chaewon in her subconscious, yet the knowledge drives her all the same. The knowledge that this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance,” Jiwoo said as her fortunetelling reached its culmination, eyes locked onto Sooyoung as ever. 

“This is something that needs to happen, because it can never happen again.”

Sooyoung’s gaze slowly drifted upon the final card’s printed text. Even as it faded away with the others, simultaneous with the dissipation of Jiwoo’s crystal automaton, Sooyoung stared at where it was.

 **「** **arcana the tenth** **★** **wheel of fortune 」**

“Through this divination, I have discerned what I am sure to be the truth: this precise moment in time has been ordained to happen since the very moment the multiverse was blessed with the presence of these two individuals. It has been ordained by the Arcana—by Fate itself. And for that reason, no matter the outcome, you cannot stop her under any circumstances.

“Regardless of consequences both near and distant, whatever is about to happen was meant to happen,” Jiwoo emphasized. “That being said, I implore you to let Fate take its course, Sooyoung.” 

Jiwoo’s sincere plea came with the recommencement of Chaewon’s forward march. The sight of her unceasing advance gave rise to uncomfortable apprehension in Sooyoung’s mind, and from her apprehension came disbelief.

“Let Fate take its course, _now_ of all times...?” Sooyoung repeated slowly. Her nails digging deeper still into the skin of her palm, the swordswoman’s speechlessness once again came undone. Her awe and wonder towards the prophetess’ captivating display of faith warped into a perturbed irritability which exploded at the insistence that someone they had already saved might yet be lined up for execution by the hands of Fate.

“You were serious, then? You’re asking me to risk Chaewon getting hurt—risk Chaewon’s potential _death_?!” Sooyoung countered, perfervid dissent clear in the rising volume of her opposition. “How the hell do you expect me to be okay taking the risk of losing someone just because just because some fucking cards said it was meant to happen?!”

“Because you were entirely accepting of Fate and the selfsame risk when it lead you to Hyunjin!”

The woman of ice froze over, her eyes going wide as Jiwoo challenged her with an even higher increase in volume.

“Is there not a risk of loss every single time we dare to cross the boundaries of our reality into the multiverse?! Was there no such risk when you rescued my friends and I from the doomed future we were to suffer in our timeline?! Was there no such risk when you decided to foster an emotional connection of profound importance with Hyunjin?! When you fell in love with her, and when she returned your love?! Where was this tenacious resistance against Fate in those instances, Sooyoung?!”

The prophetess was visibly shaking, Sooyoung’s question having had broken her composure and setting free an all-consuming whirlpool of wrath that continued still. Jiwoo’s voice uncharacteristically boomed through the streets, bringing noise to a world that had lost it.

“Should we have acted against those events despite their significance simply due to the inherent existence of an ever present risk factor?! _Everything_ is a risk, Sooyoung! Such is the stipulation every sentient being across all of creation is forced to accept with their mere existence! But just because there exists a risk does not mean that which is meant to happen should not happen! Probability doesn’t matter! For everything that could go wrong, just as much could go right!”

In watching a certain emotion indignantly take shape in the form of Jiwoo’s quaking eyes and flared nostrils, Sooyoung’s mouth had fallen slightly agape. 

“I can accept if you cannot place your faith in the Arcana nor the threads of Fate, if they are concepts and ideals that do not agree with you...but I would ask that you show me the respect many did not by having the decency to at least stand firm with consistency in what you choose to believe! Your selective acceptance of Fate only when it agrees with you completely sullies everything I stand for and I will _not_ suffer it!”

Jiwoo’s breathing had gone ragged. 

Her chest rose and fell with noticeable speed as she huffed for air, her eyes unmoving from Sooyoung’s still shocked expression.

The other sorceresses were without words. Down the road, Chaewon had turned halfway, pausing once again as she watched on silently. The corrupted girl peered at Jiwoo in equal quiet, leaving all eyes on the flustered prophetess.

“It...it comes down to acknowledgement, Sooyoung,” Jiwoo clarified, her usual calm returning to her voice in pieces. Her awoken anger remained alive, however, in her narrowed eyes and distinct frown. “You cannot abide by Fate only when it suits you. If you choose to claim faith in it, you must do in wholly in every aspect or not at all...and I trust you would understand why the notion discomposes me so.”

Jungeun crossed her arms as Jiwoo finalized her thoughts with points that hit far too close to home. Glued to the ground, her vermillion odd eye was glossed with sorrow in melancholic reminisce. 

“To have gone our whole lives shunned by a majority of those who looked at us, only acknowledged when my divinations were to their liking...never again will I suffer being used in such a manner, and never would I let someone be deprived of the acknowledgement they deserve. Not when I know full well the value of it after seeking it for so long, and especially not when I am so astoundingly positive that Fate itself has ordained it.”

The emotion showed itself again in Jiwoo’s eyes, and Sooyoung blinked as she realized exactly what it was. 

Despite always understanding why she would harbor something like it, Sooyoung simply never fully connected it to the normally quiet sorceress. And with the years that had passed since the rescue of the prophetess and her friends, Sooyoung had done her the disservice of allowing herself to forget it.

It was only when she saw it in its purest, rawest form did Sooyoung register its relevance to the situation at hand. Only in seeing it then did Sooyoung completely understand her wrongdoings, how she herself had become that which Jiwoo detested most.

It was resentment. 

Bitter resentment. 

Though it seemed entirely unbecoming of the almost regal prophetess so heavily invested in the threads of Fate, it was undoubtedly bitter resentment, and it was justified in every possible sense. Bitter resentment towards her past, towards those who only paid attention to her when it benefited them, towards the notion of denying the gift of the single thing she always wanted most...even if the gift wasn’t meant for her specifically. 

Jiwoo’s eyes trembled without end, visibly fighting to perpetuate her near glare at Sooyoung. It was as if she found it inconceivable to even be looking at her in such a manner in the first place, as if being upset with the woman who helped saved her friends from an untimely death was impossible.

But all the same, glare she did at the woman of ice.

“Allow Chaewon do what others refused to do for me. What others refused to do for Jungeun, for Heejin, for Hyunjin. Allow her to unconditionally acknowledge the girl’s existence, because not only does she deserves that much just like anyone else, but because the threads of Fate have brought Chaewon here for that express purpose. She is meant to inaugurate a connection of potentially untold importance, indifferent of what it may lead to.”

The mere thought of denying someone else the acknowledgement she perceived the full value of simply offended her beyond reason.

Sooyoung and Jiwoo’s eyes remained upon one another for a moment brief yet everlasting. Jiwoo’s hues were the only ones that remained steadfast, Sooyoung’s gaze incrementally dropping the more her mind deliberated on her erroneous charge.

Regret flooded Sooyoung without end as full comprehension of her insensitive resistance settled into her mind. Even if her resistance was born out of a good-hearted desire to keep LOONA’s latest sorceress safe—a desire that remained at the forefront of her present mind as she brought her eyes back to her—she understood the offense Jiwoo took with it.

Chaewon’s gaze returned Sooyoung’s. The girl of light nodded to her as she was given noiseless approval in the form of the swordswoman walking off to the side. 

Sooyoung came to a stop next to the remnants of a building now barely inches taller than her, propping up a foot against the broken wall behind her and sliding her hands into her pockets. Her stare upon Chaewon remained even as she turned around and started her advance anew.

Jiwoo’s eyes found Jungeun as she began to walk towards the despondent woman of ice. The sight didn’t deter the prophetess from her current mental state. She unconsciously squeezed her hand, blinking in surprise when she felt Haseul’s fingers still locked with hers.

“Haseul…?”

In her explosive episode, Jiwoo had entirely forgotten that Haseul was right next to her. The Master sorceress never left her side or let go of her, standing in the defense of her loved one. “I’m sorry, dear...I’m not sure I entirely intended to be so loud and rash…”

Haseul smiled at Jiwoo softly with a shake of her head, presenting her a look of understanding. “It’s fine, Jiwoo. You have every right to upset, and Sooyoung recognizes that now. You can be sure of that.”

“I see,” Jiwoo said, looking back towards Sooyoung. Jungeun had just approached her, the two now speaking out of earshot. Still, Jiwoo’s resolve persisted. “I hope I have made it clear enough that I refuse to bear witness to handpicked belief in Fate. Never again will I endure such disrespect upon my faith, least of all from the very people I now consider my family...”

“You won’t have to,” Haseul assured her partner. “Sooyoung won’t be making that mistake again. Though it may not seem like it with how she carries herself sometimes, she’s fully aware that she can make mistakes just like anyone else. The two of you will grow closer from this in the end, I’m sure. Just let her process it.”

Jiwoo nodded slowly, allowing Haseul’s words to remain so that she might absorb them proper. Without response, she joined the woman of wind in looking on towards Chaewon’s attempt to save a soul.

“Been a while since I’ve heard her get that loud. Honestly, kinda forgot she was even capable of it.”

Across the street, a strangely upbeat Jungeun had come to a stop next to Sooyoung. Much to Sooyoung’s perplexion, the spearwoman’s previously morose aura was all but gone.

“What’s up with you?” Sooyoung asked plainly with a cold stare right into Jungeun’s eyes. “I stepped on your toes just as much there. You should be upset, too. I don’t have an excuse...even if it feels like it was last week, it’s been two whole years now since we brought you guys home. I should have known better.”

“Eh, once I realized that you were secretly doing Jiwoo a favor, I wasn’t as bothered,” Jungeun revealed, inciting the hard raise of Sooyoung’s eyebrow. “She may have been a bit over the top, sure, but I think she needed that.”

“Shunned through and through unless they provided the right fortune for the right person and continued to provide them, was it?” Sooyoung asked, summoning memories of her initial expedition into the timeline driven by Fate. “And if you were a magus who wasn’t a prophet or in the service of one, then you didn’t even get that chance…”

“Yeah...we were all basically stepped on our whole life, but it was next level for her,” Jungeun elucidated, her eyes focusing on Jiwoo’s profile. “For of all the prophets I’ve met, none of them ever had a genuine, heart-driven belief in totally abiding by Fate like Jiwoo’s. It’s the definition of everything she lives for...which just meant the whole system she was born into back home drove her especially mad once her faith developed.”

Sooyoung pensively watched Jiwoo as Jungeun divulged their history. It wasn’t the first time she had heard it, but careful attention she paid to it all the same, eager to be reminded of what her allies stood for so that she might spare them the disrespect of forgetting again.

“To go from praised and revered as a celestial oracle of the cosmos with one divination to being ridiculed as a lying fraud with the next...it was always a headache,” Jungeun rightfully complained. “Couldn’t exactly manipulate what she drew, either. Even if she knows what cards are coming in a spread, she can’t control or change what they are. Not that she would in the first place, though, since that’d just go against Fate itself.”

Jungeun let loose a tired sigh, bringing her sight back to a quiet Sooyoung who was still locked onto Jiwoo. “For as much as it bothered her, though, she never spoke up against it. Not like that, at least. She was never in a position to, even though she needed to. You gave her the perfect venue to do so, and I can tell she’ll be better off for it now that she’s gotten it all off her chest. It was bottling up for years...it had to go.”

“What’s your take on it, then?”

Jungeun was somewhat taken aback as Sooyoung addressed her presence properly. Their eyes met, and within Sooyoung’s gaze she saw an ongoing desperate search for a definitive answer.

“My take on it?”

“On Fate. You practically grew up with her, didn’t you? So do you believe in it, too?”

“No. Not yet.”

An answer Sooyoung both didn’t expect and couldn’t quite make sense of wracked her brain as Jungeun let it hang in the air for a moment with an introspective pout.

“You’d think I would be, given the circumstances. Born and raised specifically to keep a prophetess safe, serving as her retainer for years as if it were my destiny...but it didn’t feel like it. It never did, and the fact that we’re standing here is proof of it,” Jungeun opened up to an attentive Sooyoung. 

“I’m not her retainer anymore. I don’t wake up every day just to look after her. I’m part of LOONA now, and I’m just doing my part in trying to make sure life as we know it doesn’t completely fade out from every damn plane of existence one day...but even then, I’m not sure I feel it even now.

“All the same, I won’t claim that Fate isn’t real. For all I know, it really might have something in store for all of us, including me...but maybe just not yet,” the woman of fire suggested with a shrug, her smile coming back to her. “If so, then I’ll believe it when I feel it. If not, then I won’t. It’s that simple to me. Don’t feel the need to overthink it.”

“That isn’t the same thing she’s so upset about? Believing in it only when it benefits you?”

“No, it isn’t.”

Despite the weight of her words, Jungeun’s smile didn’t falter as she showcased her honesty to Sooyoung in full. “Even if the moment that feels like my fate catching up to me ends up being something bad, like me having to die to save someone I care about, then I’m going to accept it and believe it all the same. No matter what it ends up being, if it feels right to me, I’ll believe in it.”

“You might be comfortable with your gray hair, Jungeun, but you’re not some grandma on her deathbed. You don’t get to talk as if you’re meant to die.”

Jungeun wore a wistful grin as Sooyoung shook her head, turning her attention back to Chaewon’s advance. “I’m not going to let any of us die. We’ll all going to be standing together by the end of this. You’ll be seeing the rest of us join you with that color.”

“God, I hope not. You’d look absolutely terrible in gray.”

“Oh, fuck off.”

Sooyoung’s words came with a sideways smirk and a muted chuckle. Jungeun’s smile widened, cheerful that she was able to lift the woman’s spirits even slightly.

“Thought I had a pretty good grasp on how I felt about the matter, but after all of that...guess I’m in the same boat as you,” Sooyoung announced with a sigh. “Really not crazy about the idea that Fate’s railroaded me onto a path that I’ll be forever stuck on...but if that path is what lead me to Hyunjin, then not believing in it feels wrong to me.

“All the same, if that same path were to result in any harm coming to her...shit, what a god damn mess,” the swordswoman lamented with a pass of her fingers through her hair and an exhausted sigh. “I want to respect Jiwoo and pick a side, to believe in it fully or not. But I don’t fully agree with either one. I don’t know which side to believe in.”

“You’re overthinking things, Sooyoung. You don’t have to know. Not yet.”

Jungeun didn’t offer further words, and Sooyoung didn’t seek them. The statement permeated the space between them, sinking into the swordswoman bit by bit as she looked back to Chaewon. 

Her cautious approach nearing its end, Chaewon had carefully stepped over yet another sprawled out body. It was a girl similar in size and age to her. Much like the rest of the corpses in the expanse of bodies she carefully navigated, her dedicated focus on the corrupted girl ahead prevented her from paying it any mind.

It was a girl with a face eerily similar to her own. Hair eerily similar to her own. A near carbon copy, in fact. And on her wrist, a small bracelet connected by a clasp in the shape of a butterfly.

Now only a few paces away from the corrupted girl, Chaewon came to a stop. With one of her hands atop the other in front of her waist, she stood still as her aura of mana began to increase in density slightly. “Hello.”

**“Are you...a threat to my existence...?”**

Much like her slow breathing, the girl’s voice was labored as she spoke with clear exhaustion. 

“No,” the girl of light said with a small shake of her head. Despite the bilious manifestations of near-death corruption staring her right in the face, she carried a soft smile from which luminous warmth poured. 

“I’m Chaewon. It’s nice to meet you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading! i hope you found it enjoyable. for any questions or comments outside of AO3;  
> —https://twitter.com/Helseivich  
> —https://curiouscat.me/Helseivich


	15. 「 episode 15; arc 0.9c 」 —fragments of cipher//accident— 「 historia iii 」

**「** **episode 15; arc 0.9c** **」 —fragments of cipher//accident— 「** **historia iii 」**

**“The others you are with...who are they...?”**

“They’re my friends. We came here together.”

**“If they are with you, and if you are not a threat to my existence, then…”**

“They aren’t either, no. We aren’t looking to cause you any harm.”

**“I see...there is little need for them to keep such distance, then. If they wish to approach...they may.”**

A quiet breeze rolled down the ruined street laden with death. It lightly swept Chaewon’s hair as she turned halfway, looking towards her four companions down the road behind her. She gave them a small nod to signal them forward, ushering in a respectfully cautious approach lead by Sooyoung at the helm.

A tense silence fell as the girl’s sight wandered between the five sorceresses. Her breaths were slowing down gradually, indicating the oncoming expiration of her body. She looked at each of them in kind as they came closer step by step, her visage unchanging as they stared back with general concern shared amongst their expressions.

The four came to a staggered stop just behind Chaewon. Haseul and Jiwoo remained close together with hands held below locked arms. Haseul’s focus fell upon the wriggling manastream underneath the girl’s dying skin, worriedly wincing at the sight of it. Jungeun and Sooyoung ended their strides next to Chaewon. The swordswoman stood between the two shorter girls, her gaze completely locked onto the girl’s flooded eye of shadow before her.

“This is Haseul, Jungeun, Sooyoung, and Jiwoo,” Chaewon introduced her friends one by one, motioning towards each to allow the girl to link each face to each name.  She attempted to return the introduction as her eyes quickly moved across the other sorceresses. “And this is…”

Chaewon’s voice trailed off as she realized she had yet to learn of the girl’s identity. “Ah, I’m sorry...I forgot to ask. What’s your name?”

**“My name…?”**

The corrupted girl’s weak voice and the wind came both came to a stop, granting stiff noiselessness the opportunity to strike the group. Apparently baffled by the inquiry, she remained nearly motionless as her eyes fell. **“My name...my true name…”**

“I expected some degree of amnesia, but to forget her own identity...” Haseul muttered under her breath, her perceptive mind already running loops around itself as it sought reasoning in the midst of probable impossibility. “She truly is poisoned beyond belief…”

“Have you forgotten?”

Chaewon’s question hung in the air as the girl’s vision remained upon the floor. Her face scrunched up as she visibly went through the process of rummaging through her mind for an answer. It eased up a moment later when she lifted her head, bringing her detached eyes back to Chaewon.

 **“Yes, I...I suppose I have,”** she conceded, a small frown forming on her face. **“For the past near year of wandering, I am only just now realizing that I have no recollection of my true name…”**

“It’s alright,” Chaewon reassured her, equipping herself with a smile to counter the pout facing her. “Why don’t you pick a name for yourself, then? What would you like us to call you?”

 **“There is one name which feels almost...appropriate, yet something within me wanes when I imagine taking it up as a mantle of my own...”** the girl slowly explained through deep breaths. Ominous and vague as her words were, Chaewon’s focus wasn’t deterred. **“It feels improper, as if it is but a false identity worn as a disguise. Yet I can imagine little else to be referred to as…”**

“What would that name be?”

**“The name I heard her calling out to when I found myself reborn with new life within her…‘Mother.’ She called for her mother, and I answered. Am I to be considered her mother, then? Am I...Olivia…?”**

Chaewon’s silence persisted as the girl temporarily withdrew her voice **,** the ongoing conundrum of her identity racking her brain. The others remained just as quiet, giving the girl with no name an opportunity to sort her mind as she thought aloud to herself.

**“No, that cannot be...I know full well that I am not her mother. I have no memory of raising her...my memories are entirely the girl’s, alongside splintered fragments of my own past. Reborn within her depths with access to her history, I am doubtless connected to her on levels beyond...but I am not her, and she is not me. I cannot solely claim the name of my vessel...nor can I solely claim her mother’s name, even if that was the call my soul answered.  And still, my true name escapes my tongue. Thus…”**

An oddly bestilling calm fell upon the corrupted girl’s face as her eyes met Chaewon’s again. **“...for now, until my true name returns to me, I can only be seen as a sum of the two halves which brought me forth. The vessel I inhabit, and the one she called for when I arose within her. I will answer to Olivia, but my name...my name can only be Olivia Hye.”**

Chaewon nodded quietly, following the girl’s helplessly incoherent nonsense as best she could. She was the only one of the sorceresses smiling, her comrades’ expressions sinking further and further with every word the girl spoke as their confused pity amplified.

“For such an intricate monologue, that, uh...didn’t make a whole lot of sense,” Jungeun muttered under her breath with a defeated sigh of disappointment. “Can’t say I expected much else, though...kinda figured she’d be this deep into corruption delirium by now.”

“I’m afraid that’s the likely explanation,” Haseul agreed in a quiet whisper, the pained frown on her face growing little by little. “I was hoping her mind might still be intact, but…” 

“Wishful thinking, given the severity of the corruption,” Jiwoo whispered back. With downcast eyes, she fought a deepening depression in her heart as she spoke. “She must be blessed by Fate to even be speaking in her current state. I have to wonder how much of that explanation wasn’t the result of a potential ongoing hallucination…”

Barely overhearing the assertions of the other three, Sooyoung crossed her arms and shook her head to herself. Her unbreaking focus on the girl’s glowing eye multiplied as she inaudibly disagreed with them. “What if all of it was the truth…?”

Giving the girl a nod, Chaewon ignored the hushed words filling the air around her. “Okay. We’ll call you Olivia, then. Thank you.”

“Olivia...you said you’ve been wandering for nearly a year?”

Jungeun’s voice rose with a question, summoning eyes to her. Discomfort was plainly set about her face as she showcased a full grimace. “Is the rest of this world like this…?”

**“Yes, it is. The devastation you see before you is mirrored elsewhere...so it has been for several cycles, and so it shall likely continue for endless successions until this planet expires.”**

Expressions lowered further still as Olivia nonchalantly confirmed the long-running post-apocalyptic state of the world. Sooyoung’s voice came next, her vision momentarily drifting to the sea of bodies around them all. “Is there anyone else around?”

 **“No,”** Olivia answered flatly to the surprise of the others. **“We have wandered a remarkable distance since my rebirth eleven months ago, and in that time...I have never laid eyes upon another living being. All that remains are relics from the past.”**

“Wait, ‘we?’” Sooyoung asked abruptly. “There is someone else, then. Someone you’re traveling with? Where are they?”

**“Right in front of you.”**

Sooyoung blinked. Jiwoo’s voice continued where hers had failed to continue. “Er, Olivia...there isn’t anyone else here…”

 **“You misunderstand,”** Olivia began to clarify, though her following explanation did little in the way of clearing things up for the sorceresses. **“I am referring to the cursed one. My soul resides within her body. She is my vessel...we are one in the same, yet simultaneously, we are not.”**

“What do you—”

“Sooyoung, this matter specifically isn’t one to press further discussion about,” Haseul cut Sooyoung off with a sharp whisper, drawing the swordswoman’s eyes to her momentarily as she continued at a hushed volume. “She’s very obviously suffering from delusions and hallucinations brought about by her manapoisoning. A topic of this nature isn’t going to get us anywhere. We need to focus on what happened here.”

Sooyoung pursed her lips. 

Haseul was making sense. It all made sense. She knew it did. Olivia was exhibiting clear-cut symptoms of late stage corruption, most notably delirium as presented through what could only be interpreted as illogical balderdash. Sooyoung had every reason to agree with the conclusion that Olivia’s words shouldn’t be taken as truth.

Yet, despite knowing as much and having Haseul remind her that she should know as much, there was a deep-seated feeling in her gut that wouldn’t go away. When she brought her eyes back to Olivia, Sooyoung felt the feeling intensify—the notion that they were not being fed the wild hallucinations of a madwoman.

Merely gazing upon the girl’s swallowed eye of shining lavender tore apart the foundation of the belief that she normally would have trusted in. As Sooyoung considered it further, she thought back to what Jiwoo had said moments prior and realized that her discontent with accepting Olivia’s claims as false wasn’t entirely without reason. No, there were a number of things that could prove that the situation before them was not what they seemed, and Sooyoung was feeling particularly adamant about expressing it.

Judging by Olivia’s slow, hoarse breathing and growth of decayed skin, however, it became clear to Sooyoung that it wasn’t the time for an investigative push. She refrained from further questioning, if only to appease one of her closest friends of over twenty years.

“What caused all of this then, if you know? What happened that lead to this death and destruction?”

**“The cursed one’s desire to live on.”**

Jungeun grimaced as Olivia answered her question with a statement as vague as the rest. Olivia paused briefly as she found the rest of her words. Deep breaths which caused her visible manastream to squirm underneath her skin were interwoven between words which should not have been spoken as calmly as they were.

**“The cataclysmic occurrence which brought an end to all that remains before us...it was the very call I answered when I awoke within this vessel.”**

“What...what exactly do you mean, Olivia?” Chaewon asked slowly.

 **“Precisely what I have implied,”** Olivia reiterated through a ragged breath. Alongside her voice, more patches of skin across her face began to actively die with a shift to gray. **“My rebirth...the girl’s burning conviction to continue living which willed me into existence and which fuels every fiber of my being...it was that very event which laid waste to the world around us.”**

“Are you serious…?”

Despite her own agreement with herself to not press Olivia with too many questions, Sooyoung couldn’t stop her words from manifesting as her mouth opened. Eyes widened as the group processed the information, and debates of truth versus delirium quickly took hold as Haseul spoke up louder than she intended to. “Sooyoung, you don’t believe her, do you?”

**“Do I...have reason to deceive you…?”**

Haseul froze up as Olivia addressed her directly, staring right into her eyes with her burning bright shade of overwhelming violet. Haseul was lost between the girl’s glowing eye and now quickening expanse of forthcoming death eating away at her face. **“Such mendacity would serve no purpose...I speak the truth.”**

At the sight of Olivia’s corruption coming to a tipping point, Chaewon’s mind had discarded Olivia’s words and the ongoing discussion of reality against fiction. Whether it was truth or hysterical babble mattered little in the face of her safety. Knowing she would soon be out of time, the sorceress took a small breath and brought to life a warm sphere of light in front of her chest from a small cloud of dust.

Sooyoung stepped forward in response, looking to Chaewon with a hesitation in her eyes. “Chaewon, wait—”

Just like she had during her initial approach, the girl of light shamelessly defied a direct order as a tether of mana began to pour forth from her effect. “There’s no time, Sooyoung. She’s at her limit. I need to begin the purification.”

“Olivia, what exactly was the cataclysmic occurrence?”

Sooyoung’s focus had immediately returned to Olivia, her wanting eyes straining for a more detailed answer as she continued. “Just what do you mean by your rebirth?”

**“Ah...such warmth...”**

Olivia’s response was not towards Sooyoung’s inquiries. Instead, her eyes fell upon Chaewon as she shared in being engulfed by a tender aura of her beige mana. **“This light…what is this…?”**

“Your manastream is corrupted, Olivia,” Chaewon explained quietly, her tether becoming thicker and thicker as she fed more of her mana into it. “In order to save you, I need to purify it.”

 **“You aim to save me…?”** Olivia repeated, blinking slowly as she felt warmth radiate from her center. With every breath she took while being encompassed in Chaewon’s mana, pain began to slowly dull and subside across her body. **“For what purpose…? You are not indebted to me…”**

“I don’t need a reason to help someone,” Chaewon instantly responded with tremendous resolve. “It doesn’t matter if I don’t owe you anything or if we just met. I won’t leave you to die alone.”

**“I see...after nearly a year of searching, I have finally found an answer…”**

The five sorceresses fell silent as Olivia spoke. Though she addressed the group in full, her gaze was locked entirely onto Chaewon, and Chaewon’s onto hers.

 **“All I have sought since my awakening was a means to continue living...from the moment I found myself in this world, the safety of this vessel was the only thing that ever mattered to me. I am compelled to do whatever it takes to continue drawing breath. The urge to survive, to do whatever I must to live on...it ascends beyond the concept of a basic necessity. It consumes me. I care not for anything but my survival, and by extension, hers. We must live on. We** **_must._ **

**“Yet, as I traveled, I could feel it within me...my vessel has been living on borrowed time. With my rebirth, something has been ailing her, growing more severe with each passing day. I had little in the way of an answer as to what it was, but now I do...corruption,”** Olivia concluded, her words now as heavy as her breaths. **“But her memories...there is nothing within her memories explaining these symptoms, nor indicating a history of suffering from them. It leaves me wondering...was my awakening the onset of this sickness? Or is my existence...a side effect…?”**

Before Olivia could continue, her focus broke as she suddenly gasped for air. The team of expeditioners winced as she leaned forward slightly, cradling her head with one hand. **“I can feel myself...fading...and with it, her presence return piece by piece...this is not unlike prior instances in which conscious control was transferred…”**

“What do you mean by rebirth?” Sooyoung asked suddenly, seeking to cut through the vagueness of Olivia’s potentially senseless maunderings.

“Sooyoung, please!” Haseul retorted. Her eyes shook slightly as she glanced at the woman of ice. “This interrogation act isn’t helping…!”

 **“It...it matters not,”** Olivia revealed in the middle of a series of exhausted huffs. Sooyoung found herself graced with the girl’s attention as she finally looked at her, the ocean of her odd eye’s vibrancy slowly receding. **“I am sure you will have the opportunity to ask her yourself…sooner than you might expect...”**

The strength to stand failed Olivia. 

She fell onto her knees as the coat of Chaewon’s mana that covered both her and the sorceress of light began to increase in density. Chaewon was quick to step forward in aid, coming down to her own knees and holding Olivia steady by the shoulders. Olivia’s voice was especially quiet when she brought her half open eyes to Chaewon. **“You say that you are saving me, but...I cannot help but feel that I am at death’s door…”**

“Purification for such a heavy degree of corruption will cause you go unconscious for a little while,” Chaewon divulged, her eyes scanning the recession of Olivia’s dead skin and visible manastream, “but I’m going to be right next to you when you wake up. I promise.”

Chaewon blinked as she found herself the sudden recipient of a deep stare. 

With falling eyelids, Olivia was looking at her in a mesmerizing manner she had never been looked at before. The girl’s gaze seemed to penetrate her own, looking well beyond her eyes. Chaewon felt as if her very soul itself was being examined, and she was left speechless when Olivia spoke again.

**“Chaewon...the selfsame name. The selfsame hair, the selfsame eyes...the resemblance is so painfully striking, even if it is merely a comparison I can only make through her memories. But beyond that...part of me cannot help but feel that this is not the first time I have experienced this specific moment in history...as if countless times, I have been in this exact situation, at this exact moment in time, being saved by you. What a puzzling sensation…”**

The corrupted girl’s voice briefly vanished into nothing as she collapsed forward without warning, falling into Chaewon’s ready arms. Smaller and shorter than her by a fair margin, the girl of light eased herself into a sitting position to better hold Olivia. Her companions stepped closer, encircling the pair as Olivia’s final words came and went.

 **“The cursed one cannot perish. She** **_cannot_ ** **. Her tenacious will to live exceeds all reason, and my very existence is proof of that. No matter what it takes, I will ensure that her life does not expire before it is meant to. If you cannot maintain the safety of my vessel and guarantee her longevity, or if she cannot keep herself safe even with your assistance, then it will be under unfortunate circumstances that we meet again…”**

With a claim that carried the atmosphere of a foreboding threat behind it, Olivia’s odd eye was fully drained of its excessive luminescence. For a split second, right before it closed as she fell into a deep slumber, the sorceresses saw it—a fully transformed iris present even despite the absence of mana or a weapon, bright violet in color.

A ruminative silence encompassed the area as LOONA’s magi stood still in the eerie calm of the deleted world they had ventured into. Chaewon’s vision was entirely set upon Olivia’s sleeping face, now fully clear of the grisly manifestations of her corruption. Their bodies became even more illuminated as more spheres of light were born with Chaewon’s breath.

Chaewon’s small voice broke the silence before long. Her eyes didn’t leave Olivia’s face as she addressed her companions while establishing more mana tethers to amplify her purification. “I’ve never seen someone with a manastream so poisoned...this may take me a few hours.”

“We should set up shop somewhere out of town, then,” Sooyoung ruled, her gaze rising to the remnants of civilization and the corpses littered around her. “There’s better spots to wake up in than the middle of a place like this.”

“Somewhere by the outskirts, then?” Jungeun suggested. “Hopefully the bodies doesn’t reach out that far…”

“Might want to go farther than that,” Sooyoung admitted with a sigh. “If she really went eleven months without seeing a single living thing like she said, then I’m sure this isn’t the only graveyard around.”

“You _do_ believe her, then? Truly?”

Tinged with disbelief, Haseul’s voice brought opposition forward. She turned towards Sooyoung, a quiet Jiwoo shifting with her and looking between the two. “Sooyoung, how many times now have we seen something like this? Even beyond our time with LOONA, but in our own reality alone...just what exactly is driving this ongoing belief of yours that this isn’t another clear cut case of corruption delirium?”

“My true name. My vessel. The cursed one. Her memories. Awakening. Rebirth.”

Sooyoung’s repetition of the most bewilderingly frequent segments of their exchange with Olivia held off a counter from Haseul. The swordswoman’s eyes briefly focused onto Jiwoo, recalling her words. “Just like you said, Jiwoo. She was blessed to even be talking in that state...and that’s the problem here. Even as just a blessing, it makes zero sense.”

Sooyoung shifted her mixed hues to Haseul, fearless of challenging even one of her oldest friends as she presented the basis for her argument. “For all we’ve seen of victims of corruption and their loss of sanity when they hit that stage of delirium, have you ever heard any of them speak with such clarity about anything like that? Especially someone that deep into corruption—someone so poisoned they were probably minutes from death. When has anyone that far along ever been able to speak so clearly, let alone _think_?”

“You believe she wasn’t delirious, then?” Jiwoo asked sincerely, her expression rife with contemplation.

“Not for a second,” Sooyoung asserted. “No matter how you splice it, this doesn’t add up. With how poisoned she was, actual delirium would have rendered her incapable of speaking so clearly.”

“And because it doesn’t make sense, that means she’s telling the truth?”

Shifting her eyes, Sooyoung met Haseul’s dead-on sight of skepticism. Sooyoung gave a firm nod, sure of her assessment. “Like she said, she had no reason to lie to us. Don’t see what she would’ve gained from it. With no reason to lie and with her having a clear train of thought even that deep into corruption, I think she was telling the truth.”

“Sooyoung...do you even realize what you’re implying?”

Mounting skepticism claimed Haseul’s tone of voice. “If you believe her, then you believe her account for the state of this world? How her ‘rebirth’ caused this...apocalypse, for lack of a better word?”

“I do.”

Haseul’s expression soured. In exasperated disbelief, her grip on Jiwoo’s hand tightened ever so slightly as she struggled to understand her longtime comrade’s point of view. “That makes even less sense than what you’re claiming made no sense to begin with! Look around you, Sooyoung! Regardless of what she even meant by ‘rebirth’— _if_ she meant anything—how could one girl be the reason for all of this? An entire world, just—”

“Alright, that’s enough of that, thanks.”

Haseul’s thoughts crashed and dissipated at the onset of Jungeun’s voice and accompanying footsteps. Quickly growing tired of misplaced debates in the middle of a field of corpses, the spearwoman broke the conversation while approaching Chaewon. “You two really like to butt heads at the weirdest times...let’s save ourselves the headache and focus on what actually matters right now. This argument isn’t gonna get us anywhere.”

Unseen to Jungeun, Jiwoo smiled warmly at her from behind as she watched her bend down on one knee to hoist the unconscious Olivia onto her back with Chaewon’s help. She hooked her arms underneath Olivia’s knees and stood up straight, turning to face them. “Let’s just take it easy and get her out of here so she can wake up comfortably.”

“You all can go on ahead. I’ll catch up with you in a bit.”

Haseul’s words came with a sharp gust of wind. Her left eye had become washed over with a glowing verdant hue as a transparent tornado of jade enveloped her frame. Floating into the air above the group, she addressed the other sorceresses while scanning the locale. “I’d like to examine the surrounding area. I find it extremely difficult to believe that this catastrophe could really be so widespread…”

“I’ll leave a trail for you, then,” Sooyoung said, relaxing her hands into her pockets. “How far out you going?”

“Maybe five hundred miles in a few directions,” Haseul decided. The winds around her began to pick up in velocity, now thoroughly ruffling her green dress shirt and straightened hair. “It shouldn’t be more than an hour or two.”

“Dear, may I accompany you?”

“Oh, Jiwoo, I’ll be fine,” Haseul insisted, inciting a slight frown from Jiwoo below. “It’s just a search.”

“Take her with you,” Sooyoung called out over the winds growing louder and fiercer still. “All she’s gonna do is secretly worry about you the whole time.”

“S-Sooyoung!”

“The three of us can handle ourselves if anything happens,” Sooyoung added, ignoring the now blushing woman of water. “Just keep your mana in check. Take a breather if you need to before coming back. Be careful out there.”

“From a heated debate to travel advice and well wishes in less than a minute...talk about jarring,” Jungeun said to herself as she began to walk forwards, a smirk growing on her face. “Never seen such a close friendship continue to thrive even in the face of repeated arguments...”

With a nod to Sooyoung and a flash of light from her odd eye, Haseul turned her gaze back towards Jiwoo. The diviner found herself shrouded in a veil of wind much like her beloved as she was lifted into the air alongside her. She secured her loose jewelry more tightly before extending a hand towards Haseul, returning her smile tenfold. “Thank you, dear.”

“Hold on tight,” Haseul politely instructed as their fingers intertwined. 

The currents carrying the two combined into one cyclone that brought them further upwards. They were now settled a few hundred feet below the thick ocean of deep gray that blanketed the sky. Streams of wind diverted upwards with Haseul’s breath, protecting her and Jiwoo from the slow cascade of corrupted mana from above.

With a final exhale, a significant portion of the currents keeping them afloat twisted backwards and briefly rotated in place behind them before rushing forth. Expelled forward at a tremendous speed with hurricane force winds, the atmosphere was briefly displaced with an ear-piercing boom before the pair vanished into the horizon like a speeding bullet. Sooyoung watched them depart with a grin set upon her shaking head before turning back towards Jungeun and Chaewon.

The two were already a little ways ahead, Chaewon keeping close to Olivia on Jungeun’s back and continuing her multifaceted purification process. Walking towards them at a relaxed pace, Sooyoung exhaled steadily. Her cyan eye momentarily came to life as her mana aggregated behind her in a tall column that rose dozens of stories high. In a flash, it materialized into a swirling spire of ice that was easy to see well above the desolation of the city.

Between Jungeun and Sooyoung, a quiet Chaewon was staring hard at Olivia’s body on Jungeun’s back. Her mind was downheartedly lost in thought, trying to make even the slightest bit of sense of everything she had heard the girl say. Sooyoung’s and Haseul’s dissension with one another’s views resulted in her questioning herself if she had been listening to nothing but feverish drivel or cryptic truths hidden behind the false veil of lunacy. 

_Chaewon...the selfsame name._

Olivia’s words made themselves right at home in Chaewon’s troubled head, confusing her without end. With a deep breath, the girl of light recollected herself as best she could and simply continued forward with her allies.

Whatever the truth was, whoever Olivia was...she wasn’t in danger anymore. Chaewon had done what her parents refused to do—what her entire world had refused to do. She had acknowledged her, and in doing so, she had saved her.

That was all that mattered.

「 ⮜⮜⮜ ★ ⮜⮜⮜ 」

“Lupus Central Police Department! Open the door!”

An ongoing raucous barrage of noise beyond a closed door was the only response to the demand. Disorderly and rowdy in nature, imaginations ran wild as to what sort of domestic dispute awaited them behind it.

“This is your final warning! Open the door!”

A high-pitched shriek came to life behind the locked entrance of the small apartment. With it, the sounds of what seemed to be things being tossed about came to an end. What followed was loud sobbing from inside and a vigorous kick from the outside hallway.

“Hands in the air! Don’t move!”

In tandem with the slam of a door being forced open, shouts from armed police officers shattered the silence of the tattered home. A staggered rush of several guns cocking in unison followed as footsteps came to a stop. A ring of policemen and policewomen had surrounded a sight they didn’t expect to find at the source of what was initially a simple noise complaint.

On the floor in front of them, a weeping twenty year old girl with frayed, messy jet black hair was on her knees. Hyejoo cradled her head with shaky hands as she cried, her eyes anxiously flittering about all over the sight of something in front of her.

“Mother...Mother!”

The living space around them was in complete disarray. Books were scattered across the floor, their originating shelves entirely collapsed. A dining room table was on its side, and its accompanying chairs were far removed from it. An officer slowly stepped over a capsized couch, her shoes crunching the broken remains of ceramic plates during her careful approach to the girl’s front. She kept her firearm ready as she looked down and saw it.

“It was an accident…!”

Hyejoo’s pleas were disregarded as the other officers slowly joined in taking proper sight of the apparent murder before them. In front of Hyejoo, a body was sprawled out on the ground. 

Stiff and motionless, it was an older woman with an eyepatch and a frozen expression of nightmarish shock imprinted upon her face. 

Olivia’s abdomen and neck had been cleanly impaled all the way through at several points by thorned spikes colored a sickening shade of deep violet. Their sharpened metal surfaces were slick with fresh blood. The pool of crimson beneath her was rapidly expanding, soiling Hyejoo’s calves as her cascading tears from above mixed in with it. 

In the middle of the puddle of blood, an aged razor blade sat upon the tile floor not far from Olivia’s hand. Its faded stains of vermilion were given new life, soaked again in its owner’s blood for the first time in decades.

“I promise it was an accident…! I didn’t mean to...I don’t even know how I...it was…”

The officer in charge brought her eyes back to girl—the clear perpetrator, as indicated by the soft lavender glow emitted by Lucifer’s iris within her left eye. Even as it slowly began to transition back to its original shade of dark brown alongside the gradual dissipation of the violet spikes, the evidence of the police force’s eyewitness account was already established by means of the actively recording body cam set upon her chest.

“Tase her.”

Before Hyejoo could even process the words spoken by the chief officer, a surge of electricity paralyzed her from the base of her neck. 

The stunning currents rolled across her body for precisely four seconds before stopping, causing her to spasm uncontrollably before falling forward into her mother’s blood. Helplessly dazed and still shaking violently, the young girl barely registered what was happening as she was handcuffed from behind and pulled up to her feet. As she was dragged out of the sanctuary she had so rarely left, figures clad in white began to swarm in after her, invading her home with monstrous cameras and numerous bags of equipment for crime scene investigation.

“Get the sedative in her. Standard dosage,” the voice of the chief officer rang in Hyejoo’s disoriented ears. “Don’t want her trying to pull anything,” 

Hyejoo felt a needle prick the skin of her arm. 

Noises and voices from all around her gradually slurred into a single stream of incomprehensible sound as she was sedated. She fought with what strength she had against the growing urge to close her eyes, but with the fading of her mind, she was powerless to stop it. Pushed into the backseat of a police car with its siren still blaring, a forced slumber reined in a pause to her frantic, restless mind.

Some time later, a screeching buzz brought Hyejoo back to life. 

The weary necromancer jolted awake in a frightened frenzy. She attempted to stand, but when she failed to do so, she looked down and was thrust into a puzzled panic. Bound to a metal chair at her wrists and ankles by thick chains of iron, Hyejoo was rendered completely immobile. 

Her eyes darted madly across her surroundings. The room she was imprisoned within was absurdly tiny and featureless with blank walls of gray, outfitted with absolutely nothing minus a speaker hanging above her and a small television mounted onto the wall to her front. Atop the television was a camera pointed right at her, a light near the lens intermittently flashing red.

A clock hanging on the wall near the television restored Hyejoo’s lost perception of time. It was nearing five o’clock in the afternoon, something Hyejoo was having trouble fully registering. The sedative that was administered to her had put her into a deep sleep that felt much longer than the mere two hours which had passed since the incident.

The incident…

_Mother…_

Bit by bit, the girl’s memories resurfaced within the mess of her troubled headspace. 

Her eyes welled as streams of tears began anew, following the same dried path of their ancestors. With every fragment that came back to her, her soul broke into smaller and smaller pieces as she remembered it all in painfully crisp detail. Grim images and her mother’s final words resonated within her mind, driving her deeper into a dark pit of grief that was still far too fresh.

_Lose the eye. Moments of pain. Weeks of recovery. A lifetime of safety._

Her mother’s unsettlingly calm approach with the razor blade in her hand, reciting the mantra she had lived by for so long—the mantra she ultimately forced upon her only child, convinced beyond reason that it was the only way the girl could safely live her life out to the fullest.

_Lucifer’s iris will manifest upon your eye, Hyejoo. Even if you never engage in necromancy, in due time, it will show. It matters not if it takes decades—it will show itself and it will put you in grave danger._

The frighteningly empty look in Olivia’s eye as she stared at her very reason to live running away from her in horror. Detached from the situation, her mother had become little more than an empty husk as she followed Hyejoo throughout their home. Had she allowed her mind to remain, Olivia knew she was likely to lose hold of the courage she had summoned again.

_You cannot let yourself become comfortable. You cannot delay the inevitable. You cannot make the same mistake I made, Hyejoo. I won’t let you. You need to face reality. You need to lose the eye, here and now._

The lack of reaction from Olivia as Hyejoo crashed into every possible object in their home during her escape, begging and bargaining for any other possible alternative. The tears that rolled down her cheeks as her mother cornered her, seizing her by the neck and holding her against the wall.

_If you wish to live, Hyejoo, then you need to lose the eye. And you need to live. You must live on, because you promised me. You promised me that you would live, Hyejoo. You—_

The ill-timed premiere of Hyejoo’s darkness brought forth by the insurmountable fear of the razor’s edge a hair’s breadth from her eye. The harsh, twisted countenance of disbelief and agony set upon her mother’s face, a sight that would surely haunt Hyejoo for the rest of her life. 

_You...promised me...Hyejoo..._

The loud thud as her body fell over backwards, pierced and stabbed by demonic skewers unintentionally brought to life from mere dust.

“Current time...four forty-four PM. Current date and month...twenty-first moon, eleventh cycle. Current year...831st succession of the Noble Wolf. Beginning suspect identification.”

An electronic voice from the speaker above her drew the sobbing girl’s attention away from the recollection of her accidental crime. She looked up and then forward as she heard the television turn on.

“Son Hyejoo...twenty years old...born on the thirteenth moon of the eleventh cycle during the 811th succession of the Noble Wolf…”

A grainy image of an older gentleman in a white and gray suit seated at a table was on the screen. He combed through some files inside a manila folder, listing off the information contained upon the pages before him.

“...unemployed...sophomore at Lupus Institute of Technology, majoring in game design. Is all of this information correct?”

“It was an accident!”

Body, mind, and voice alike strained and exhausted, Hyejoo steeled herself through her nervous breakdown as best she could in order to speak. “It was an accident, I swear!”

The man brought his eyes up, looking at Hyejoo directly from behind his square-rimmed glasses. “Son Hyejoo. Twenty years old. Born on the thirteenth moon of the eleventh cycle during the 811th succession of the Noble Wolf. Unemployed. Sophomore at Lupus Institute of Technology, majoring in game design. Is all of this information correct?”

“I didn’t mean to do it! I don’t even know _how_ I did it! I started breathing spiritus for the first time barely three hours ago! Please, you have to believe me!”

“Is all of this information correct?”

Hyejoo bit her tongue in frustration as her interrogator dismissed her words with his eyes back on the files below him. He was leaning forward against the desk, arms folded on the table as he brought his microphone closer and repeated himself. “Is all of this information correct? Please confirm or deny.”

Hyejoo’s lips quivered. She took a deep breath, struggling to keep herself in check. Stretching her fingers, she flexed the muscles in her hand as best she could under their restraints while digging her nails into the metal of her seat’s armrests. “Yes, that’s...that’s all correct...”

“Thank you. Suspect has confirmed her identity.”

Hyejoo’s interrogator closed the folder in his hands. Sliding it to the side, he wore a blank expression as he briefly adjusted his hair. The disquieting lack of emotion in his eyes reminded Hyejoo of her mother—it almost seemed like he was forcibly disconnecting himself from his emotions, as if they would interfere with what he knew he had to do. “Alright. That’ll be all.”

Hyejoo gulped. Her heart was beating with ferocious strength entirely out of raw, unhinged fear, fueled by her anxiety and nearly smashing its way through her ribcage. “W-what do you mean…?! That can’t be all! What’s going to happen to me?!”

Already in the middle of standing up from his seat, the interrogator paused. He sat back down slowly, peering at Hyejoo through the camera aimed at him with incredulous eyes. “Really, kid? Do you need me to say it…?”

Hyejoo didn’t respond. She merely looked at him pleadingly with trembling irises, her feet fidgeting uncomfortably against the tight pressure of the chains around her ankles. The interrogator sighed once again, removing his glasses and rubbing his eyes in exhaustion. 

“Alright then...Son Hyejoo, you killed your mother in an act of homicide,” he began, sliding his glasses back into place. 

“Why can’t anyone understand that it was an accident—”

“—and normally, we’d conduct a full investigation to determine that, and you’d be given a fair trial by jury, no matter how damning the evidence against you was. However...none of that applies in this case,” he returned her interruption with one of his own, staring Hyejoo down with a forced lack of concern or remorse in his eyes. His ongoing effort to sustain his falsified cold demeanor visible, he attempted to remain detached from his words and from the image of Hyejoo before him.

“Due to your status as a necromancer, this matter is beyond the police’s jurisdiction. Much like any other case involving necromancers, all we’ve been tasked with is identifying you. Your prosecution is something that will be handled directly by the Church of the Sacred Fang. Representatives from the Church are already en route to retrieve you. Probably a few minutes away now. From there, they’ll…well...”

As the interrogator’s explanation drifted into nothing with the emergence of silence, Hyejoo’s mental stability hit a critical low. 

Mouth agape, the uncertainty of her future began to attack her, giving birth to tears once more. “It was an accident…! I promise it was! You have to believe me!”

“I’m sorry. This is out of my hands. It’s out of all of our hands. There’s absolutely nothing anyone can do for you at this point.”

The interrogator’s claim cleaved Hyejoo’s spirit. She shook her head in denial, failing to believe what was happening as actual truth. “No, there has to be _something_ you can do! Please don’t let them take me! I’m begging you…! It was an—”

“Kid, listen...”

The interrogator stopped after cutting Hyejoo off. Her ongoing pleas for life breaking his steel-faced facade little by little, Hyejoo’s descent into anguished madness was becoming more and more difficult to watch. “Whether or not it was an accident doesn’t matter here. There’s video evidence of you performing necromancy...that’s all they need to see. Even if you didn’t mean to do it, you’ve been proven to be a necromancer.”

“C-can’t you delete the footage?! Wouldn’t that—”

“They’ve already seen it.”

Hyejoo froze.

The interrogator tiredly rubbed the creases on his forehead. He brought his eyes down as he spoke, the task of looking at a crying girl who still had so much to live for right in the eyes becoming downright impossible.

“The Church runs absolutely everything in this world...you should already know that, kid. Especially here in the capital...we have to report any necromancer activity straight to them the moment it happens, well before we’d ever have a chance to do something like that. Not to mention what would happen to anyone who was caught tampering with evidence to protect a necromancer. That’s grounds for execution...only someone who really loved you would risk their lives like that for you. The only person you should ever expect that kind of sacrifice from would be...I don’t know, a soulmate or something.”

“What are they...what are they going to do to me…?”

Hyejoo’s fractured voice came after an excruciating pause. As small and quiet as her words were, the deep-seated dismay they were constructed from was loud and clear. “Am I...am I going to be executed…?”

The interrogator sighed once again, shaking his head slowly. He brought his vision upwards, gracing Hyejoo with the now despondent look in his eyes. 

“You’re a necromancer born of shadow...an archdemon of Lucifer’s deepest darkness,” he explained, his tone falling in composure and rising in pity. “Not too many people know the truth behind this, but necromancers who share your iris aren’t executed quite like the others. It’s likely that they’ll...well, they’ll…”

A strenuous eternity passed, stealthily disguised as a single moment. 

Through his own screen in his room several floors above Hyejoo’s chamber, he gazed at the girl lined up to experience a horrific and unjust death—forced upon her by the world she lived in due to nothing more than what she had become outside of her own control.

Before he could properly finish his statement, a loud sound broke through the speaker on his side. The door to her cell had been opened from the outside. 

Three figures dressed in robes of ebony larger than themselves stepped into the room. Two were unmasked men, scorn set about their faces as they came to Hyejoo’s sides and looked down at her with scowls. The third figure stopped at Hyejoo’s front, his hood preventing her from a clear view of much of his face even from below. His voice, however, clued her in to his identity.

“I see...all this time, my suspicions were correct.”

Hyejoo’s mind was suddenly thrust deep into her past. The voice that spoke to her was the same voice she had heard on several occasions as a child. Visions of hot summer afternoons and cold winter nights spent standing in the middle of a large crowd flooded her mind, clutching onto her mother’s hand as she watched necromancer after necromancer die before her eyes.

“Though it was little more than a fleeting inkling, I consistently felt it. Every single instance in which I laid my eyes upon you, something stirred in the pit of my stomach, as if God was warning me of what you were to become. I wondered if such a turn of events could truly come to pass, the innocent child of one so dedicated to assisting us being of Lucifer’s blood herself...but it seems my presentiment was not misplaced.”

The executioner frowned underneath the cover of his hood, shaking his head as he retrieved a conspicuous needle from a pouch tied to his waist. “To end the life of the very woman who stopped at nothing to provide for you, the very woman who _killed_ for you…truly, you must be one of the most reprehensible demons I have ever had the displeasure of crossing paths with.”

“My mother wasn’t a killer!”

The executioner’s paused his tapping of his gloved finger against the needle’s tip. He looked up slowly, taking in the surprising sight of Hyejoo’s despair turned into rage.

Half-standing, her body was raised into the air as much as her restraints allowed her. Through furious eyes brimming with tears, she bared her fangs through clenched teeth. “She didn’t kill anyone! You did! It’s always been you! From the very beginning, all your holy order has ever done is kill innocent people for being different!”

“People...?”

The executioner scoffed, gazing at the girl of darkness with lurid contempt underneath the veil of his hood. “You consider necromancers human beings? How preposterous. Did the prestigious school system of our blessed holy capital teach you nothing? Or was it your mother’s fault, perhaps? Had she only shared in our faith so you could have been raised with a proper mindset...perhaps that is why Lucifer claimed you. I am sure he sensed your blasphemous compassion for his subordinates.”

In response to the executioner’s callous claims, Hyejoo’s anger underwent a startling metamorphosis. 

It quickly evolved into a boiling wrath quite unlike anything she had ever experienced. It coursed through her veins with palpable intensity, rising within her at a breakneck pace. Her breathing quickly becoming unstable, she was unable to find words that could properly articulate the thoughts that were taking shape in her mind. Pressing up against the chains that held her down even as they began to bruise her wrists and ankles with the force she was exerting against them, she remained half-standing, refusing to relent.

“You’re a monster,” Hyejoo declared in a harsh whisper. Her seething fury presented itself through her subtle grinding of her teeth and the extreme tightness of her balled up fists. “You all are. You’re not helping anyone. You...you’re just…”

Emotions that Hyejoo couldn’t put into words became more and more present in her mind. Riled up and unable to settle down, a spike of rushed thoughts seized her headspace for a moment. In that same instant, Hyejoo fell silent in stunned shock as she saw her violet dust suddenly come to life in front of her once more.

Any opportunity Hyejoo could have had to better understand why her spiritus had just materialized was quickly seized from her by the rapid injection made into the side of her neck.

“I’ll give you no chance for such antics, archdemon. Your campaign of terror starts and ends with your murder of your mother.”

Sedated in the same manner as when the police had taken her in, a familiar sense of unanticipated tiredness washed over Hyejoo. She felt herself slipping into unconsciousness even faster this time, assaulted with a higher dose than before.

Her senses were vanishing one by one. Her sight became a blurry mess as she valiantly struggled to keep her eyes open. She barely heard the sound of locks clicking open as her restraints were undone, and she could only make out disconnected fragments of the executioner’s voice as she was lifted and placed over the shoulder of one of his lackeys.

“...archdemon of Lucifer’s deepest darkness...return her...post haste...to Hell itself. Prepare transport...throw...inside...portal to Lucifer...outside the city...”

The three holy men filed out of the room with a sleeping Hyejoo in tow, slamming the door behind them. On the screen of a television nobody was watching, Hyejoo’s interrogator held his head in his hands. He pressed his fingers into his temples, muttering to himself with a sigh.

“Cut the feed.”

Gloomy eyes behind his glasses blinked hard. He unhurriedly stood up, speaking to someone out of frame as he walked away from the camera facing him.

“No, it’s...it’s over. We’re done here. Cut the damn feed.”

As the television in the room turned off, the interrogator and his team returned to their duties for the final hour of their lives before they and everyone else around them would cease to exist.

「 ➤➤➤ ★ ➤➤➤ 」

“Jungeun, I’ve been meaning to ask you something.”

“Yeah? Alright, shoot.”

“How long have you had feelings for Jiwoo?”

The answer to Sooyoung’s question was the silent descent of Jungeun’s gaze to the ground beneath them. With it, a wistful smile of profound contemplation as she laughed. “Well, damn. That was...blunt.”

In a grassy plain unclaimed by civilization and detached from a nearby highway a few miles away with the remnants of the devastated city in the horizon, Jungeun and Sooyoung sat at the opposite ends of a small campfire made of loose branches and dead leaves. 

A short distance to the side of them and just out of earshot, a quiet Chaewon was resting against a splintered tree with an unconscious Olivia in her lap and a single beige tether of her mana between them. Chaewon’s focus was honed in on the peaceful image of undisturbed serenity set upon Olivia’s sleeping face, her chest gradually rising and falling with her breaths.

In the distance, a series of frozen spires reached high into the sky, creating a path to the group’s temporary encampment. A perimeter of even thicker and taller towers of ice encircled the area around the sorceresses, breaching even the dense layer of corrupted mana above them and acting as a landmark that Sooyoung was sure Haseul and Jiwoo couldn’t possibly miss. A dense sheet of ice that spanned a generous area was suspended above them, the same icy pillars acting as its foundations and protecting the group from the slow rain of corrupted mana.

Battered by a gust of wind, the flames that danced between Jungeun and Sooyoung began to lose form. Sooyoung watched a pensive Jungeun stare into the fire for a moment before her eye of crimson emitted a soft light. Crimson dust which had settled at the base of the firewood ignited into flames, adding to the source of warmth between the two. 

Their campfire reinvigorated and steadily burning, Jungeun crossed gazes with Sooyoung as she lifted her head. Sooyoung was delivered a small shrug and a forlorn expression in the spearwoman’s downcast hues as she spoke. “That obvious, huh?”

“Putting it lightly, but yeah,” Sooyoung revealed. “Ever since they started dating a few months ago, I’ve noticed the depressed look you get in your eyes when you see them together before you eventually just...look away. You make it so obvious that I can’t tell if you don’t care about hiding it or if you’re just really bad at being discreet about it.”

“Your guess is as good as mine.”

Sooyoung remained silent as Jungeun leaned over backwards. Laying down on the grass in full, she folded her hands together and rested them atop her stomach. Introspective eyes of flaming vermilion and tender hazel stared at nothing in particular, merely absorbing the sight of the sea of dark gray above. 

Jungeun’s voice was uncharacteristically soft as she spoke, drawing Sooyoung’s attention further. “A retainer falling in love with the woman she’s bound to protect, the woman she both lives for and is always ready to die for...sounds like the plot to some preteen romance novel, but that was my life. I’ve felt this way for a long time now. Definitely before we met Heejin and Hyunjin...it’s been several years now.

“For the longest time, though, I couldn’t tell how genuine it was. Wasn’t sure whether or not it was just dumb puppy love that developed because of how much time I spent with her. Didn’t want to act on it until I was positive it was real, so I just let myself run circles around the idea in my head, constantly questioning if my feelings were true. Eventually, I knew they were, but I was still scared. I bided my time way longer than I should have, and when I was finally over my fear and decided I should confess, well…”

“They had just started dating?”

“Yep,” Jungeun confirmed Sooyoung’s suspicions with a small laugh of self-deprecation. “Missed whatever chance I may or may not have had. Too little, too late. Not that I have anyone to blame but myself, of course. I’ve never been great with this stuff...romance, feelings. Not exactly what I’d call my strong suit. Guess that’s just how it goes for someone like me.”

Jungeun was met with silence as Sooyoung nodded, absorbing the information quietly. A sobering lack of sound became the monarch of the campfire until the swordswoman’s voice usurped its reign.  “How’d you finally figure it out, then?”

“Figure what out? The fact that it wasn’t just some crush?”

“Yeah. The fact that your feelings were real.”

“The butterflies in my stomach.”

Sooyoung kept quiet as Jungeun oddly chuckled to herself. Her rueful smile had returned to her. “I had never experienced anything like that before. That’s what convinced me that it was real—the god damned butterflies in my stomach that I started to get whenever I saw her. I first felt them when she looked at me a certain way one day...don’t know what started it, but there they were. 

“After that, I’d feel them more and more often, no matter how she looked at me...but thankfully, I haven’t felt anything like that with another girl,” Jungeun concluded with a sigh dipped in relief. Sooyoung raised an eyebrow as she saw a smile much warmer in nature replace the one on the spearwoman’s face.

“Thankfully?” Sooyoung parroted, Jungeun’s choice of words and relaxed attitude coming off as especially strange. “You’re describing love, Jungeun. You don’t want to feel that?”

“Sooyoung, what I’m describing is a crippling, paralyzing sensation that made it extremely difficult to look my closest friend in the eye—a feeling of constant anxiety that made me second guess my true feelings and prevented me from being honest with myself. That’s what I don’t want to feel ever again.”

Jungeun’s correction of Sooyoung’s definition came with the sullen darkening of her expression. Her words were heavy, crashing down into Sooyoung’s ears as Jungeun made her mindset clear. “These butterflies...I’m sure they’re a good thing to some people. Maybe even cute. A sign that you’re in love, that you’ve found a special someone...that’s how I interpret it, too. But that’s not all they are. 

“They’re an untimely pause. An unsolicited break. They freeze me up and overwhelm my thoughts. They make me question what I should know as truth. They stop me, Sooyoung. They stop me even when I can’t afford to be stopped. Even when there’s dozens or hundreds of fiends around us, even when there’s people I need to protect...they still manage to stop me.”

Sooyoung held her tongue as Jungeun lifted herself off the floor. She brought her knees close to her, resting her arms on top of them. Her vision locking onto the campfire between them, the spearwoman’s crimson hue became lost in the sight of the flames which shared both its color and her spirit.

“The butterflies stop me even when I can’t afford to be stopped...and I hate it. I absolutely hate it,” Jungeun decisively emphasized with a sorrowful reiteration. Shifting her gaze to Sooyoung, fire and ice clashed as she looked into the swordswoman’s eyes. “Of course I want that kind of love. Who doesn’t? But if finding it and experiencing it means struggling like that again, if it means losing focus when lives are on the line...I don’t want to feel them ever again.”

Sooyoung was ill-equipped to counter Jungeun’s philosophy or claim it as incorrect. She replied with a light sigh and a small nod, showing her junior the respect she deserved. “Alright, that’s fair. No butterflies, then. So are they what you’re feeling when you see them together?”

“No, that’s not it,” Jungeun said, her eyes easing slightly. 

“I haven’t felt them in a long time, not ever since they started dating. I’m looking away because I want to respect them. Seeing them together sometimes makes me imagine what things might be like if the butterflies didn’t stop me from speaking up to Jiwoo sooner...and I don’t like that one bit. Feels wrong, picturing a bunch of what-if scenarios like that when I’m trying to move on from my feelings for her. I just want my best friend to be happy, and imagining myself in her girlfriend’s shoes is definitely not helping that goal. Jiwoo deserves better from me. They both do.”

With every word of Jungeun’s explanation, Sooyoung’s warm-hearted smile grew wider and wider. It reflected onto Jungeun as she spoke, her tone built with reverence. “Damn, mindful and considerate to the very end...some girl’s gonna be real lucky to call you her wife one day, Jungeun.”

“Please shut up.”

Jungeun’s rebuttal, though deadpan, was delivered with a smile upon her shaking head, inciting a laugh from Sooyoung. Silence made itself at home between the two as they basked in the warmth of the fire, though Jungeun broke it not long after. “Why’d I even tell you all of that…?”

Sooyoung’s eyes perked up as Jungeun looked at her with a smirk of disbelief. Without even realizing it, the woman of fire had settled into the spontaneous spotlight she had been gently nudged into, comfortable enough with Sooyoung to privately share with her the emotions she had normally kept locked away in the furthest reaches of her heart. “I haven’t really told anyone any of that before...”

“Kahei said the same thing.”

Surprised to hear the name of the earthen Master brought up from seemingly nowhere, Jungeun’s eyes quietly found Sooyoung. The swordswoman kept her gaze onto the fire in front of her as she spoke, her smile warm much like its gentle flames. 

“She went through something pretty similar to what you experienced. Loving someone for years on end, but being stopped by anxieties and reservations and never speaking up because of it. Just like you, she was pretty obvious about it, always looking at her a certain way. I asked her about it, she told me about it at length, and at the end of it...she was just as confused as you were.”

Sooyoung’s smile slowly widened. Lifting her eyes to Jungeun, she peered through the spearwoman’s eyes, seemingly analyzing her soul itself for a moment. “Not that I mind or anything. If you need someone to talk to, I’ll listen. It’s just kinda funny that you both ended up spontaneously getting this off your chest with me. Thinking about it, you and Kahei are actually pretty similar in more ways than one...hm. Makes me wonder…”

Before Jungeun could ponder Sooyoung’s statement for long, a faraway sound of howling winds came into their earshot. Growing in volume by the second, it stole the attention of the sorceresses as they looked up to the skies above them.

High above, Haseul and Jiwoo had flown in, coming to a stop at the edge of the makeshift campsite that had been set up. The vigorous cyclone of jade winds that swirled around the pair gradually lessened in intensity as they carefully descended towards the grassy earth below them. With their feet safely upon the ground, Haseul’s left eye returned to its unaltered state.

The woman of wind wore a particularly darkened expression as she approached the seated Sooyoung and Jungeun. With Jiwoo’s fingers still locked around hers, they took a seat next to one other across Sooyoung. When a brief silence came into existence as opposed to words or information of any sort, the women of ice and fire inferred the worst.

“No luck, huh?” Jungeun correctly surmised, her vision settling onto Haseul. “Didn’t run into anyone at all?”

“No,” Haseul dejectedly confirmed, fallen eyes resting upon the dance of flames before them. “No matter how far we went out, there was nothing. Not even fiends. There was nothing but bodies and destroyed cities just like the one we walked into.”

“And the corrupted mana in the sky?”

“For as far out as we ventured, it persisted,” Jiwoo answered Sooyoung’s question, crossing glances with her as she grimaced, “and it seemed to continue on still. It feels absurd to claim that it might truly cover the entirety of the planet, but that may very well be the case…”

“Oh, Jungeun…”

Jungeun’s eyes perked up as Haseul procured something from the depths of her pants pocket. It was a small electronic device—a smartphone, beaten and battered with cracks all over the screen.

“One of the few we found that wasn’t completely destroyed,” Haseul explained. “We were hoping you could get it to turn on again. Not that I expect to find out much from it, but...”

“Why couldn’t Jiwoo do it?” Jungeun asked in surprise, eyeing Jiwoo for a moment as she gently took the phone from Haseul’s grasp. “Your affinity with electricity is level seven just like mine. You’re more than capable.”

“Similar affinities aside, it was somewhat difficult for me to control it to the required degree. I seem to lack the precision you do with it, Jungeun.” Jiwoo confessed with a sheepish smile. “I was worried I might destroy it...”

“Nothing some practice can’t fix. We’ll work on it sometime,” Jungeun said while flipping the phone over. Popping off the back cover, she removed the rectangular battery. Silently, the spearwoman inhaled and held her breath for a few seconds. Her odd eye gently flashed with a soft light as a miniscule cloud of golden mana took shape on the fingertip of her free hand’s index finger.

With Jungeun’s exhale, the mana sparked to life in the form of a single thin bolt of expertly controlled electricity. She focused her attention as she directed it towards the battery’s gold contacts and kept it steady. Jiwoo watched her quietly as Sooyoung spoke up to Haseul. “A two-and-a-half hour search turning up nothing but a broken phone...guess she wasn’t delusional about everything.”

Haseul’s thoughts stirred as she formulated her response. “I admit, the situation is much more dire than I expected. While life might still exist still even further out, the bodies I checked showed signs of having long been deceased. If the corruption truly does encompass the globe, then I’m left to assume that it’s wiped out everything off the face of this world…”

“Everything except her.”

Haseul’s gaze rose from the campfire. She witnessed Sooyoung staring pensively at the incapacitated girl resting in Chaewon’s lap across the field. Sooyoung brought her eyes back to Haseul before long. “You saw it, didn’t you? Right before she passed out. Her eye.”

“Yes, I did,” Haseul affirmed. “She’s a magus aligned to darkness...one who’s used enough mana to trigger a permanent shift in her eye color, which is startling, given how young she appears to be. Unless it was the result of something else...”

“So what do you think of my original idea, then?”

“Sooyoung, I still find it difficult to believe that she was actually Absolute,” Haseul insisted, asserting dominance as she cut Sooyoung short. “I know her eye made it seem as such, but it was plainly her corruption. Her body was overflowing with mana because of it. We saw as much. It’s similar to Absolution, yes, but correlation does not imply causation.”

“There’s nothing else it could have been.”

Haseul’s patience was tested as Sooyoung’s countered her without hesitation. “The only way you’d ever survive living in this environment for that long is by going Absolute at regular intervals, since—”

“—the process of going Absolute wipes the manastream clean of corruption as your body’s production of managen begins to increase exponentially, yes, I know. Please don’t explain something like that to a practiced aetherial scientist of all people, Sooyoung.”

Haseul’s request was tinged with slight annoyance, growing weary of the ongoing back-and-forth with her friend. “Anyway, that line of thought assumes she was without shelter. She could have been living somewhere with a roof over her head, safe from the corruption until just recently. I’m sure she had to look for food and water...she likely stayed out too long which lead to her being in the state we found her in.”

“Then what about what she said?”

“She said a _lot_ of things, Sooyoung, many of which I’ve spent the past several hours trying to make any sort of sense of. Which part are you referring to?”

“The urge to survive, to do whatever I must to live on. It ascends beyond the concept of a basic necessity. It consumes me.”

Haseul didn’t respond. She closed her eyes in exhaustion as Sooyoung continued, rubbing her forehead with her free hand and leaning slightly into Jiwoo next to her. “She described it perfectly, Haseul. Being compelled to act on a single thought, a single desire, absorbed and consumed by it to the point where you either see it through to completion or you die trying. She even mentioned a transference of consciousness. She described Absolution.”

“Did I not just clarify that I don’t require this sort of thing explained to me?”

“I don’t think it could have been anything else other than Absolution,” Sooyoung reiterated with complete disregard towards Haseul’s protest, happily settling into what she saw as undeniable truth. “Signs are pointing to it. Wonder what Archmagus Jeong and Grandmaster Sunmi would make of this…”

“Sooyoung—”

“Jinsol was right. You two really can have a drawn out debate over just about anything.”

Sooyoung and Haseul blinked, their minds coming to a collective stop as an exasperated Jungeun introduced herself into the conversation. Eyes turned to her and the smartphone she held out towards them, its now charged battery and back cover affixed to it anew. Its display was on, showcasing a barren home screen with a generic background and a few icons beneath its damaged surface. “Not much of worth on it. Most noteworthy thing is the date, but that doesn’t help us much.”

Jiwoo watched Haseul carefully take the phone from Jungeun. Opening the calendar application and viewing the current date, Jiwoo’s thoughts escaped her as Haseul contemplated it silently. “Second moon of the tenth cycle, 832nd succession of the Noble Wolf...how strange…”

Shuffling footsteps broke the forthcoming silence before it could even make itself known.

Heads turned to Sooyoung as she suddenly rose to her feet. They turned again upon seeing what she had suddenly become so focused on. 

“Who are you people? And you...why do you look and sound just like her…? What’s going on?”

“Please stay calm, Olivia. You might be a little disoriented still...”

“What...what did you just call me...?”

The others rose one by one, now facing the sight across the field alongside Sooyoung. At the base of the broken tree, Chaewon was standing next to an awakened Olivia. The girl of light had an unnerving distress set into her eyes as she looked between Olivia and the approaching sorceresses.

Coming to a stop close to Olivia and Chaewon, the four sorceresses quickly understood the source of Chaewon’s concern. It was a reflection of Olivia’s own barely contained befuddlement, her mixed eyes of violet and brown shaking slightly as they shot across the team of reality-jumping expeditioners.

“Olivia...that’s what you told us to call you. Olivia Hye,” Chaewon explained slowly. Eyebrows were raised and confusion multiplied as Olivia remained silent. “It was only a few hours ago, when you first met all of us...don’t you remember?”

“That isn’t my name, and I’ve...I’ve never seen the four of them before in my life,” the girl announced after a brief moment of looking upon the sorceresses. Despite her tall stature, her voice was tiny and quiet. Turning her gaze back to Chaewon, her following words threw the girl of light for an unprecedented loop that left her mind in disarray. “I’ve seen you before, but you...you couldn’t be her. There’s no way...is there…?”

“If Olivia isn’t your name, then what is?”

Sooyoung’s voice came to life with a question. The swordswoman stepped forward, peering at the survivor with a freezing aura of calm. The girl was momentarily stunned, her thoughts jumbled as she looked towards Sooyoung.

“It’s...it’s Hyejoo. My name is Hyejoo,” she said, birthing layers of confusion within the minds of the sorceresses. It multiplied exponentially as she turned looked back to Chaewon with strained eyes. “I don’t understand. You’re...you’re practically her twin...”

Chaewon blinked. Her gaze wandered to her comrades for any sort of assistance, but she was met with looks of equal stupefaction. Gradually, she found bits and pieces of her thoughts as she spoke up. “I’m sorry, but I don’t quite understand what you’re talking about, Oliv—Hyejoo...do you really not remember meeting us…? It wasn’t even four hours ago…”

“This wouldn’t happen to be a result of her manastream poisoning, would it?” Jungeun asked, crossing her arms and looking at Hyejoo with mystified eyes. “Any sort of corruption amnesia is just one way most of the time, yeah?”

“Yes, memories from an episode of corruption are not usually jeopardized upon recovery,” Haseul confirmed. The conversation was unintelligible gibberish to Hyejoo, supplementing her dazed panic. “In most cases, victims remember what happened during their episode. This is more akin to a blackout, making it more similar to…”

As Haseul realized it, her eyes found Sooyoung. To her surprise, Sooyoung was already peering at her. 

A look of ice cold solemnity was painted upon the swordswoman’s face, her mind already having had arrived at its own further conclusions. To her own dismay, in this particular instance, Haseul lacked the ammunition to shoot down the argument Sooyoung implied through her sharpened eyes.

With nowhere else for her cornered eyes to stray, Hyejoo’s vision ended up falling upon the bridge of dust that extended from her torso to Chaewon. In her anxiety-ridden reawakening, she had failed to notice its existence. Following it to Chaewon, her heart sank as her focus fell upon Chaewon’s odd eye, peculiarly captivated by its altered fawn hue. Shamelessly, Hyejoo stared at it in full, forcing a full stop to whatever was running through Chaewon’s mind. 

“So you really aren’t her...she would’ve told me if she was a necromancer. She wouldn’t have hid something like that from me...and even if she did, there’s still no way she survived. But then...why do you look just like her?”

“Hyejoo…?”

“What day is it?”

The five sorceresses failed to respond in time to Hyejoo’s sudden inquiry. She looked between them slowly, gradually regaining herself as her panic began to subside. Anxiety was plainly written all over her shaky frame and discomforted eyes, however, as she pressed the matter a second time. “Do any of you know what day it is?”

“Does the second moon of the tenth cycle mean anything to you?” Jungeun chimed in.

“And the year?”

“The 832nd succession of, uh...the Noble Wolf, was it…?”

Jungeun’s response was met with silence from Hyejoo. The survivor jumped into her mind for a moment, visibly recounting something in her memories while thinking aloud to herself. “Still the same year, at least...but the tenth cycle...? The last time I remember being awake was the first week of the eighth cycle. Two months, then? Was she really in control for that long…?”

“Who exactly are you talking about?”

“The person you actually met.”

Sooyoung was caught off guard by Hyejoo’s sudden clarity. The girl of darkness, though surely younger than her by a number of years, looked at Sooyoung head on by means of their matched height. It was as if she had just found the missing piece of the puzzle, and with a satisfying click, she was beginning to make sense of the situation at hand.

“Are you saying that the person we spoke to...wasn’t you?” Haseul asked slowly.

Hyejoo answered her with a decisive shake of her head. “No, it wasn’t. She’s...well, she never told me what her name was, actually. In reality, it’s more that I never thought to ask...but why did she tell you to call her Olivia? Of all the names…”

“Hyejoo—”

“How are all of you even alive?”

Sooyoung’s second question was struck down by Hyejoo. Disbelief poured from her being as her eyes wandered from each individual of the group, unable to make sense of their present existence. “It doesn’t make sense...you shouldn’t be here. Everyone’s...everyone’s dead…”

“Hyejoo...what happened to you...?”

Hearing Chaewon’s voice, Hyejoo turned to face her and she felt it—a pain striking her heart, as if a knife had just been driven through it, brought about by the concerned look in Chaewon’s worried eyes.

Merely seeing Chaewon again in the flesh instilled Hyejoo with a degree of clashing emotions that she couldn’t even begin to comprehend, especially with the knowledge that she, much like everyone else, had surely long since perished. And even if she hadn’t, the spiritus at her command which enveloped Hyejoo negated the theory still...there was no possible way the girl in front of her could have been the Chaewon she had grown so close to, the only real friend she had ever had.

Hyejoo swallowed hard, fighting a war on two fronts versus the concerning sight of her best friend seemingly resurrected before her as a necromancer and the memories her question brought to life in her mind. Simply recounting the tragedy was already taking its toll on her mental state. She steeled herself as best she could, and to little fanfare, she presented an answer that only served to give rise to more questions.

“I was...I was thrown into a portal by the Church of the Sacred Fang. That’s why...that’s why everything’s gone.”

“A...portal?”

Jiwoo’s voice broke through first, her confusion was shared by the others. “What manner of portal might you be referring to…?”

“A portal to Lucifer.”

Hyejoo’s clarification was anything but for the team of cross-reality adventurers. Haseul was the one who made the connection, her fast-working scientific mind exercising its strengths. “This portal...it wouldn’t happen to be a large sinkhole with dust around it and inside of it, would it? And with streams of it coming and going to and from the sky…?”

Hyejoo’s wordless confirmation came in the form of a small nod, and from it, expressions of utter shock were born. Sooyoung’s was markedly more indignant in nature than the others, her eyes narrowing in fury as she clenched her fist. “A manachasm…? Someone threw you into a bottomless pit…? Why?”

Sooyoung’s question gave pause to Hyejoo’s mind.

_Why?_

It was a question she had long since pondered. 

A question she always failed to find a satisfying answer to, for no answer she could concoct from any potential line of reasoning ever seemed to justify the action. It was a question that depressed her to no end, one which had been the cause of countless nights of crying herself to sleep in a ruined world totally and completely depleted of all forms of life.

Hyejoo’s eyes had dejectedly fallen to the floor, whatever spirit she had remaining shoved face-first into the ground below her as she was asked the very same question she never found the answer to. Silently, she reached into the back pocket of her jeans. LOONA’s sorceresses watched her retrieve a broken hand mirror, cracked along its center with splintered branches of damage spreading across it.

Hyejoo peered into the mirror. She looked at her violet odd eye—the curse that would have eventually marked her for death in a world which she no longer needed to fear persecution in, for those who would have hunted her were no longer around to do so. Had it not resulted in the end of everything she had ever known, the irony would have almost been humorous.

Pocketing her mirror again, Hyejoo took a deep breath before bringing her head as high up as she could. Despite how much it hurt to say it, she answered Sooyoung’s question—her own question of several moons and cycles now—with the only answer that ever made any sense. 

“They threw me in because of what I am...and because of an accident,” Hyejoo explained slowly, fighting resurfacing images that haunted her much like they did every waking day of her now cursed life. “And while I was falling...I **...** ”

Hyejoo paused. 

Speaking in a manner as if she was trying to convince herself more than she was trying to convince her saviors, her quavering voice was laced with quiet sincerity that harshly juxtaposed the nature of the truth her words revealed. Haseul particularly was rendered especially speechless upon hearing what was, to her, the single most unbelievable aspect of the entire tale stated a second time.

“...I killed everyone. I didn’t mean to. I know that sounds ridiculous, but you have to believe me. I don’t even know how it happened...it was...it was an accident…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading! i hope you found it enjoyable. for any questions or comments outside of AO3;  
> —https://twitter.com/Helseivich  
> —https://curiouscat.me/Helseivich


	16. 「 episode 16; arc 0.9d 」 —fragments of cipher//evanesce— 「 historia iv 」

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello friends and readers! it has been Quite A While since our last update but we are back with a rather lengthy double chapter update! apologies for the excessive absence, i work retail so the holiday season was absolutely insane as it is every year.
> 
> i'm leaving a note before the chapter primarily for a small announcement/post i made on twitter regarding a character in the story—jaden, who in the 3 months since the last update has proven himself to be Not A Good Person. i talk more about it here and what it means for elemental: https://twitter.com/Helseivich/status/1210330601745735687
> 
> as i said in the end of that post, if you would like to voice your opinion on the matter, please let me know via commenting here on ao3, a twitter DM, or a CuriousCat ask. this story is being written for you guys, so if a lot of you aren't happy with his continued inclusion, that absolutely matters and i'd like to know about it.
> 
> thanks for your time! i hope you enjoy the update!

**「** **episode 16; arc 0.9d** **」 —fragments of cipher//evanesce— 「** **historia iv 」**

“While you were falling, you...you killed everyone?”

“It’s the only answer that makes sense to me. I don’t know how else to explain everyone else but me being dead...”

Haseul’s voice shattered a stunned silence that had momentarily draped itself over the area. As quickly as the silence had been slain, however, Hyejoo’s answer promptly resurrected it.

A sharp autumn breeze swept by the group of six. Five pairs of eyes were locked onto Hyejoo, each set brimming with varying degrees of astonished disbelief as they failed to provide a better answer. After a moment, gazes began to shift back and forth in an awkward manner. The longer Hyejoo went without receiving further response, the more she felt her stomach sink.

Jungeun’s gaze was the first to meet Hyejoo’s anew. Her sharpened eyes which sought understanding reigned supreme over the grimace of confusion set about her face. “You said you don’t know how it happened? So, what, you were thrown in one moment and the next thing you knew, you were back up on solid ground? You don’t recall what happened in the middle?”

“I don’t,” Hyejoo answered weakly. Her small voice and lowered vision were given full attention. 

“I was falling for what felt like forever. Eventually, I heard someone speak to me inside my head, and then I blacked out. When I woke up, I was somewhere else entirely, far away from the portal to Lucifer. A few days had passed, maybe two or three. I started walking, looking for people, but everyone...everyone had…”

The gloomy expressions worn by LOONA’s sorceresses became distorted with depression as Hyejoo lost her words. For a moment, she stood unmoving, simply avoiding their eyes and peering at the dead soil beneath her feet. Fighting to keep her composure, she steeled herself and returned her eyes upward.

“...they died. Everyone had died.”

Tense silence visited the circle of magi once more, but its stay was cut much shorter as Jiwoo spoke up with an inquiry. “You say a voice spoke to you inside your head?”

Odd eyes of azure and violet acknowledged one another as Hyejoo gave Jiwoo a firm nod. “Yeah. Like I said, that’s who you met. Given the date, she’s been at the helm for the past two months…”

“You mean to say that she was in control of your body, then?” Chaewon asked, her voice bringing Hyejoo’s eyes to her. The girl of light almost flinched upon seeing Hyejoo’s temperament visibly shift with anxiety as they locked gazes. “Do you know exactly what’s happening in those instances?”

“I...I don’t, no,” Hyejoo begrudgingly revealed, straining to look at Chaewon for long. “Ever since I first woke up after being thrown in, I would just randomly start blacking out like I did when I fell into the portal. I’d sleep for days and wake up somewhere new each time with a gap in my memory. As time went on, I’d be out for longer and longer periods. This two month stretch is the longest yet...”

Haseul’s deep brown hues were swimming in contemplation as she scanned Hyejoo’s perplexed countenance. As she spoke, she failed to realize the depth of focus that Sooyoung in particular was looking at her with. “Randomly blacking out...was it truly random, I wonder? Can you think of anything that might have been the same each time? Some sort of common link between all of these episodes?”

Still quiet was ushered in as Hyejoo began to think. 

Her thoughts were mostly without form, struggling to provide a concrete answer to the Master sorceress’ question. Her vision wandered as she considered everything she could think of. 

By chance or not, Hyejoo’s gaze landed on Chaewon. Their eyes locked for only a moment before Hyejoo looked away suddenly, discernible apprehension forcing her to look away once again. Hyejoo’s anxiety bred Chaewon’s own, the shorter girl left wondering if she was doing something wrong in some fashion to garner consistent aversion from the soul she merely wished to save.

Looking skyward as her vagabond train of thought restarted, Hyejoo saw something she had already seen more times than she could recall. Though normally a mere everyday sight, it now made her tilt her head. Observing it, her mouth fell slightly agape as she considered it.

“Hm...maybe…?”

Silently, the others shared in looking upwards with Hyejoo. Met with nothing aside from the thick, seemingly infinite sheet of corrupted mana that covered the world, they looked back to her as her voice came into being.

“Whenever I breathe in that spiritus, everything hurts,” Hyejoo began. “Just like when I was falling into the portal, my body starts to ache and my head starts to pound. It’s everywhere, and I can’t avoid it if I want to find food and water, so I just deal with it as best I can. Over time, though, it starts to hurt so much that it feels like more than just pains and headaches. I start to feel...sick.

“That feeling of being sick, of being in so much pain that I think I might die...I’ve felt it strongest right before every blackout I’ve had. That’s the only thing I can think of,” the girl of darkness divulged with surefire certainty, her view shifting back to the sorceresses. “The more of that spiritus I’m around and breathe in, the sicker and sicker I get until I eventually blackout. That’s also the only time I can hear her clearly, now that I think about it…”

“You can only hear Olivia at the peak of this sickness?” Haseul pondered aloud, surprised to hear such a statement. “How peculiar...”

“Hyejoo, upon waking up, what sort of condition are you in?” Jiwoo inquired next, her fingers idly running around a collection of gold and silver bangles on her wrist. “Are you still in great pain afterwards? Do you still feel sick, even now…?”

“No, I’m fine now,” Hyejoo said with a small shake of her head. “I usually am. Even if I wake up in places where a lot of that spiritus is raining down, I’ve always alright afterwards. It takes a while before everything starts to hurt again, though in the past few months it’s taken less time than usual…”

Jungeun sighed. Crossing her arms, she fixed her eyes on nothing in particular and drummed her fingers. “So these blackouts are happening faster and faster, and you’re staying unconscious for longer and longer while this other... _ person _ is in control of your body? Has she ever told you what she’s even doing during those times? She said you two have just been wandering for eleven months, but she didn’t mention anything else…”

“No, she hasn’t. I don’t really know what she does, but I think she’s doing the same thing I’ve been doing.”

“And what would that be…?”

“Surviving.”

Hyejoo’s answer to Haseul was decisively clear-cut. As she spoke, her sight slowly traversed across the other sorceresses’, meeting them head-on. A palpable determination was bleeding through each of her words, her staggering will to live drenched in undying resolve perceivable with absolutely zero effort.

“I have to continue living. I promised my mother I wouldn’t give up on life, and I can’t break that promise a second time,” Hyejoo announced with a calm, steady tone. “I already broke it once, and if I hadn’t, everyone might still be alive...so I have to live my life, even if that life isn’t a life at all. I’ve already made my peace and resigned myself to this, so...that’s what I’m doing.”

Silence.

Silence was the only answer Hyejoo found in response to the unveiling of her motivations. As with most subjects involving her history thus far, there was little the sorceresses could think to immediately respond with. Their minds could only attempt to fully process the morose reality of her story, shock and pity presiding over most other emotions.

The exception was a strangely quiet Master sorceress who, through continued deliberation of everything she had just heard, found herself furious beyond description.

“Just how the hell did these assholes manage do this to you…?”

A nearly inaudible murmur slashed through the growing quiet. Attention shifted to its origin—a troubled Sooyoung with a darkened expression had spoken up for the first time in several moments. Her hands were at her sides, gradually curling into tight fists.

Hyejoo blinked, taken aback by the sight of Sooyoung’s contorted face. It appeared as if she were becoming steadily upset, and the young necromancer wasn’t sure why. “It’s...it’s like I said. They threw me into—”

“That’s not what I meant.”

While the other sorceresses primarily had bewildered dread settle into their hearts in reaction to the trauma which befell Hyejoo, Sooyoung’s heart responded with an extreme opposite. Though those feelings did exist within her, what mainly coursed through Sooyoung was not a profound sadness or sympathetic pity for Hyejoo.

It was an all-consuming contemptuous vexation directed at everyone else.

A maddening rage was building within Sooyoung’s spirit. Well-established feelings of disgust and abhorrence she had long since harbored were multiplying at an alarming rate. Her exponentially growing hatred was aimed towards non-magi—humans. Or, as Sooyoung much preferred to call them, trash.

Though she was normally mindful to keep her numerous grievances against humans in check, the sight of Hyejoo before her had set off a trigger she couldn’t have anticipated. Once Sooyoung realized it, and once she realized that Hyejoo hadn’t, her resentment snowballed almost faster than she could contain it.

The swordswoman shook her head slowly as she watched Hyejoo’s face closely. The nails of her fingers sank into the flesh of her palms as she sought to quell her own rancor. “Are you even aware of it?”

“Sooyoung…?” Haseul said while stepping forward, turning to her friend. Confusion was rampant amongst the rest of the group’s faces, not a single soul coming to the apparent conclusion Sooyoung had. “What are you going on about?”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t...I don’t know what you’re getting at,” Hyejoo’s nervous voice came after Haseul’s, agreeing with the general consensus. “What should I be aware of…?”

Sooyoung didn’t respond. 

For what felt like an eternity and a half, she kept her vision entirely locked upon Hyejoo. Her cyan hue clashed with Hyejoo’s lavender, unpliable in its severe intensity even as the younger girl’s eyes began to tremble. The uncomfortably strange silence reached a tipping point, inciting Jungeun to open her mouth to speak, but Sooyoung’s voice stopped her.

“The fact that you’re lying not only to us, but more importantly, to yourself. All because of what they did to you.”

With a bold claim setting the stage and rendering everyone speechless, Sooyoung clarified herself in a dignified manner both collectively calm yet openly challenging. “Have you even been listening to yourself? You killed everyone? Everything’s gone because of you? You genuinely think that all of this is your fault, as if it was your choice to dive into that chasm? You’re lying to yourself, Hyejoo, and you don’t even know it. 

“Or maybe you do, but you can’t accept it. I’m sure you’re dealing with a degree of survivor’s guilt that no one could ever truly understand, and it’s within reason that it would make you feel like this is all your fault,” Sooyoung offered in understanding,  respecting the younger girl’s past with care. “I can’t even begin to imagine what’s been going on in your head, wandering by yourself for almost a year through wasteland after wasteland. I’m sure it’s been far from easy.”

An odd sensation rippled out from Hyejoo’s core as Sooyoung continued. She became lost in the older girl’s eye of frost, her words carrying an authority that even the others respected in full. “Your guilt still might make this impossible for you to believe, and that’s fine. I’m going to say it anyway, though, because I think you need to hear it from someone else—the truth.

“The people who did this to you—The Church of the Sacred Fang, whatever they were, whoever they were—this is their fault. You said part of why they threw you in was because of what you are, and that says it all,” Sooyoung surmised, her focus still completely upon Hyejoo’s odd eye. “I don’t know the whole story, but that context isn’t even necessary. As far as I’m concerned, they were scared of you, Hyejoo. Scared of people like you. People like us.”

Sooyoung paused. Through a silent breath, a small cloud of her cyan dust came to life in front of her chest. Her odd eye glossed over with a gentle light as it unhurriedly coalesced into a moderately sized semi-transparent snowflake, crafted with a painstakingly intricate design.

“They’re scared of what we can do,” Sooyoung explained further as she extended her palm, placing her hand underneath it. An abject frown took ownership of her face as she watched her own handiwork begin to dematerialize into dust. “Even when we’re just trying to help, they’re scared of us. They always are. That’s all it ever comes down to, no matter where we end up...”

Hyejoo took notice of the distinct downward shift of Sooyoung’s voice as she began to trail off. 

The swordswoman was staring hard at her own icy residue in her hands. With a grimace that seemed to carry a deep history far beyond what it displayed at a surface level, she watched her essence vanish from existence. Her thoughts escaped her as she shamelessly condemned them, her hatred sizzling through a scathing whisper. “Tossing someone into a manapool just because they were a magus...even for all the worlds we’ve seen, the people here really managed a new level of bigotry. Unbelievable…”

Her hand now empty, Sooyoung’s eyes returned to Hyejoo’s in full. Hyejoo could feel that she had already started to calm down at least somewhat, the aggrieved loathing which perceptibly coated her previous words no longer present. “In the end, this isn’t your fault, Hyejoo. I understand why you might see yourself as one, but for what it’s worth, I don’t think you’re a murderer. None of us do.”

Sooyoung’s defense of Hyejoo’s innocence came to its conclusion with unanimous agreement from her comrades. Her declaration was supported by a round of slowly lightening expressions all aimed towards the girl without a place to call home. The odd sensation that resonated within Hyejoo began to intensify as she found herself the recipient of unconditional understanding. She identified it as a bestilling warmth which slowly overtook her, comforting in its heat as it reached every end of her body. 

Hyejoo was not aware of it yet, but the warm smiles and commiserating eyes free of judgment which graced her were gently guiding her on the first steps of her long road to recovery. The very same survivor’s guilt Sooyoung spoke of which Hyejoo had spent the past near year struggling with was finally starting to come undone, even if only slightly.

From the very first moments in her newfound solitary hell, it had quickly become a hopeless endeavor for Hyejoo to see herself as anything but a mass murderer while traversing the graveyards that used to be centers of life. With her accusers gone alongside everyone else, she struggled to place the blame on the deserving culprits, regardless of how innocent she knew she truly was. It had been the underlying cause of the many sleepless nights and countless tears she shed during her aimless wandering, and fighting it only debilitated her further. 

Thinking of herself as entirely removed from the cause of catastrophe might have been possible had it not been for the unceasing ocean of corpses she had to navigate just to survive. Her surroundings were always an ever present reminder of what used to be, and her lack of understanding as to why she was forsaken from the otherwise unbiased calamity of her world became the basis of her self-deception.

Thus, as Sooyoung deduced, lies became truth. It was a necessary step for Hyejoo to live with herself, and to live was all she had left to do. 

Just as swiftly as she had previously fallen into her darkness and accepted her fate, however, Hyejoo was finding herself suddenly overwhelmed. The same warmth which radiated across the boundaries of her soul continued to expand. Not only had she found other people alive and well, but they were beginning to convince her of her innocence through their kind hearts and open minds. 

In truth, it seemed too good to be true.

“Hyejoo…?”

A tender voice called to the girl of darkness. It was Chaewon, stepping forward slowly with an unfortunate return of her previously worried visage. 

Hyejoo hadn’t realized it, but in her brief escape of introspection, her own eyes had fallen to the ground and her mouth had curled into a frown. She failed to reply in a timely manner, all on a count of a nagging feeling pulling at her mind.

It was the feeling that it  _ was _ too good to be true. 

She knew it. Even if she wasn’t at fault for the widespread disaster that stole her life away from her, there was one death Hyejoo was positive could only ever fall on her shoulders. A weight that she carried with pained regret even eleven months later, one that she was sure would continue weighing her down for as long as she lived.

It seemed only appropriate that it be brought forward. Hyejoo could not hide such information in good conscience, even if it might mean a reversal in opinion. All the same, she felt she was missing a key piece of information herself, leading her to seek it out in full.

“You should know the full story,” Hyejoo began, lifting her head after a short breath. Her eyes shifted across the five sorceresses, exuding an aged penitence as she overtly showcased a small frown. “Even if you don’t think you need to hear the context, there’s a lot of it. Remember, I did say they threw me in because of an accident, too. But even if it was an accident, I still…”

Flashing visions of her mother’s lifeless shell in a pool of her own blood disrupted Hyejoo’s focus. 

She bit her lip in depressed frustration. Pushing past the memory as best she could, Hyejoo steeled herself to prevent the advent of tears. She had already done enough crying to last her several lifetimes.

“What is it, Hyejoo? We’ll listen for as long as you need us to.”

Chaewon’s support was answered by a somewhat disturbed glance from Hyejoo. 

The girl of light blinked as Hyejoo held her stare for a moment, keeping incredulous eyes on her. To Chaewon’s confusion, much like when she woke up, Hyejoo was once again openly gawking at her in flustered stupefaction. It was as if the necromancer simply couldn’t understand the concept of Chaewon specifically standing in front of her. 

The others caught on to the apparent tension Hyejoo seemed to be perpetuating towards Chaewon, but before anyone could think on it for long, she spoke.

“Before I explain, you guys still never told me who you really are or where you came from,” Hyejoo reminded the group. “Are there more of you? Do you have a camp or a base somewhere? Did the dark spiritus in the sky start going away over there? Have you seen any heartbroken? And are all of you necromancers…?”

As her barrage of well-deserved questions was met with complete silence and uncertain glances, Hyejoo blinked.

Scratching the back of her head, Sooyoung sighed as she looked at her traveling party before settling her sights on Haseul. “Not gonna lie, I was hoping we could leave Kahei to handle this part like usual when we got back with her…”

“ _ When _ we got back with her?” Haseul disapprovingly mimicked in disbelief. “Not  _ if?  _ Sooyoung, you know we can’t just drag people through the door! They need to be made fully aware of where they’re going and how they realistically will never be able to come back!”

“Don’t you think that rule kind of gets thrown out the window when there’s widespread corruption on the planet that’s already killed literally everyone else? And even if she could come back, what is there left to even come back to?”

A ruffled Haseul couldn’t answer Sooyoung’s legitimate proposal properly, even if she still felt it inappropriate. To her relief, however, her partner at her side shared the same sentiments and eloquently expressed them where she couldn’t. 

“We must be consistent, Sooyoung. This isn’t a procedure to selectively break, even if logic deems it reasonable,” Jiwoo rationally adjudicated. “For all we know, she may wish to remain a wanderer here for any number of reasons, and if so, that is perfectly fine. It isn’t our place to judge.”

A stern ruling from a cool-headed Jiwoo brought forth a slow breath from Sooyoung. Looking to Jungeun and Chaewon, she received equal looks of disagreement, though markedly less severe. 

In defeat, Sooyoung gave the group a nod of respect, not wishing to overstep any boundaries as she had mere hours prior. “Yeah, alright. Bad call on my part. Guess my head’s not in the right place today,” she lamented with honesty while pocketing her hands. She avoided looking at anyone in particular as she made her way back towards Jungeun’s still burning campfire.

“Someone else can do it, though,” Sooyoung insisted while seating herself in front of the fire. “Explaining alternate realities and the multiverse is a chore. Dunno how Kahei has so much fun talking about it.”

Looking to an entirely addled Hyejoo, Jungeun gave the lost girl a small smirk as she suggested the group to follow Sooyoung’s lead with a movement of her head. “Might as well sit down for this. Could take a little while.”

With slight trepidation in her step, Hyejoo followed LOONA’s magi towards the campfire. She feared not whatever she might hear from the group, but instead what she would ultimately have to share with them.

Sooyoung had transitioned to relaxedly laying on her back as Jiwoo and Haseul sat down next to her. Across them, Hyejoo seated herself between Jungeun and Chaewon. She brought her legs close to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, staring into the fire for a moment and relishing in the combined warmth of its blaze and Chaewon’s mana tether.

“I suppose I can lead the explanation this time,” Jiwoo offered with a kind smile, her mixed hues settling on Hyejoo. Returning Jiwoo’s focus with her undivided attention, the girl of darkness was led into a discussion which provided her with an unexpected answer to her most pressing question.

“Hyejoo,” the diviner began, her smile widening ever so slightly, “have you heard of the multiverse theory?”

「 ⮜⮜⮜ ★ ⮜⮜⮜ 」

“You said your name was Park Chaewon? And that you’re an acquaintance of hers?”

“Much more than an acquaintance, but...yes. Hyejoo is my best friend. I came from out of town to visit her. Is she inside? May I please speak with her?”

A question posed by a short girl with well-kept blonde hair and warm eyes of hazel was answered by the unsettling sound of silence.

In the middle of an apartment building’s outside hallway, a visibly worried Chaewon clutched hard at the strap of a mint green messenger bag slung around her shoulder. A male and female officer donned in the black and white uniform of the Lupus Central Police Department stood in front of her, guarding the barely open door to Hyejoo’s home. They looked at each other uncomfortably for a moment, finding great difficulty in choosing their words.

Chaewon took a step back as a forensic investigator clad in all white approached them from a nearby staircase. Seeking access to the crime scene with a nod towards the two officers, he slipped past them and Chaewon without a word through the door which had been opened for him. When she was met with downcast gazes from both of the sentries as they closed the door behind them, Chaewon felt a twinge of anxiety attack her from within.

“Is...is Hyejoo alright?” Chaewon asked meekly, her unease festering. Her nervous eyes unable to settle on either officer, her fingers found a bracelet around her wrist. She fidgeted with the stylized butterfly-shaped clasp in slight tension. “Did something happen…?”

“Miss Park, your friend was taken into custody roughly three hours ago,” the female officer began as calmly as she could. Despite her controlled tone, Chaewon’s eyes widened with every word she spoke, in tandem with the gradual sinking of her heart. “Son Hyejoo is the sole suspect in a homicide case.”

“Homicide? Excuse me?”

The police officers could only respond to Chaewon’s outwardly expressed disbelief with a shared sigh. “What are you even saying? Hyejoo wouldn’t ever harm anyone like that...there’s absolutely no way. That’s completely impossible!”

Met with continued silence, Chaewon’s nails dug into the fabric of her bag’s strap as rampant confusion made itself at home in her mind. It settled in cozily right next to a steadily growing grievance towards the officers’ ongoing lack of further explanation, inciting her to take matters into her own hands.

“If she’s been arrested, she’ll be at the police station, correct?” Chaewon asked. As weakened as her voice was by the disquieting image of her undoubtedly innocent friend behind bars, she pushed her worries aside and made her intentions clear. “It’s not even five thirty yet...visitation hours should still be in effect. I can speak with her myself at the station then, right?”

“If...if she’s still there, yes.”

“What do you mean ‘if?’”

Chaewon’s headspace was assailed by a rising fear of uncertainty as she watched the male officer’s expression fall. It was in reaction to a sharp glare that his coworker had suddenly directed towards him, informing Chaewon that his inability to clarify his words was beyond his own faults.

“We can’t answer that,” the female officer decisively stated, bringing her eyes to Chaewon. “Some aspects of the case are still confidential. The LCPD will release a statement when it’s ready. For now, you can go to the station and speak with her, provided she hasn’t been relocated already.”

“Where would she even be relocated to? And why?”

Chaewon bit her lip in frustration as she was completely ignored in the name of police confidentiality. The female officer had simply raised her gaze away from her, looking ahead and keeping a calm focus on the apartment building’s courtyard below. Contrarily, the accompanying sentry looked around awkwardly, aiming his eyes every which way away from Chaewon’s as she looked to him.

Their unflinching dedication to secrecy made crystal clear, Chaewon forfeited with a small sigh of defeat as she nodded. “Okay. Thank you for your time, officers. I’m sorry to have bothered you.”

Her new destination in mind, Chaewon excused herself and turned around, making her way downstairs towards the main grounds of the apartment complex. 

She kept her eyes ahead as she stepped through a small courtyard decorated with a circular fountain and accompanying benches around it. The lack of any human presence nearby allowed a dreadfully quiet atmosphere to surround her, amplifying the volume of her worried thoughts.

As viscerally loud as her mind had become through its apprehensive nervousness towards the open question of her best friend’s current situation, all of it ended with a crash at onset of two sounds. They were the click of a door being shut, and alongside it—

“And so we have come to this specific moment in history once again.”

—an unknown voice materializing behind her.

Proceeding her thoughts, Chaewon’s body came to a collective stop. Turning around swiftly, the blonde haired girl was taken aback by the sight of a figure standing a short distance away.

Much taller than her in stature with their hands behind their back, the individual was adorned in layered robes of ebony with a hood hiding their face from the light of day. An emblem of fangs arranged in a circle that Chaewon knew all too well was imprinted into the center of his garments, the shadow of a howling wolf within them making her all the more uncomfortable.

Silently, the hooded individual raised their hands. Grabbing the edges of their cowl, they pulled it down, revealing their true self to Chaewon. 

The solemn, slightly wrinkled face of a middle-aged man greeted her. Short black hair was parted down the middle, a small section of bangs hiding the ends of an ancient scar. From above his right eyebrow all the way down to his chin in a diagonal line, it ran deep into his skin, appearing decades old. Curiously, the left side of his face was shielded by gray cloth fashioned around his head.

As his voice resumed, his right eye of deep brown scrutinously took in the girl’s own hues. “Park Chaewon...the selfsame name. The selfsame hair, the selfsame eyes...the resemblance is so painfully striking. For as many times as we have repeated this moment, part of me cannot help but be taken aback in every instance.”

Chaewon’s grip on her bag tightened as her darting eyes briefly scanned the courtyard. 

Despite the full view of the area she had as she was walking, she had seen no sign of anyone else nearby. Furthermore, in defiance of her now noteworthy distance away from any doors of any kind, the noise of one shutting she had heard sounded far closer, as if it had come from just behind the man. 

However, more prevalent than the question of where the man had come from was the question of his knowledge. Peaking above in priority, Chaewon sought that answer before all else. “Why do you know my name? Do I know you?”

“No, you don’t,” he spoke plainly. “To no fault of your own, though we have convened here time and time again, you have no recollection of our previous encounters.”

A curious statement that was entirely incomprehensible to Chaewon stalled her for a moment. She swallowed hard, maintaining her view on the individual in front of her as she pressed him further beyond his strange claims. “You’re from the Church, aren’t you? I’m not of your faith, and I don’t actually live in Lupus. I’m visiting from out of town, so...why and how do you know who I am?”

“Given what’s about to happen, that information is not relevant,” the Church member replied quietly, indiscreetly sidestepping the question. Chaewon’s annoyance towards his ongoing vagueness was rapidly supplanted by surprise as he continued. “You’re looking for your friend, are you not? Son Hyejoo?”

To no discernible reaction of the holy man, hazel hues widened as Chaewon stepped forward. Her misgivings of his knowledge dissipated at the mere sound of her best friend’s name. “Do you know anything about what’s happened to her? Is the Church somehow involved in the case…?”

“Yes. If you would like to know what fate has befallen your friend, I will oblige,” he revealed. “You have a right to know, though I have not the time to go into great detail. This universe’s lease on life runs short.”

Chaewon had an inkling that any attempt to decipher the man’s abstract statements would be a waste of time. She simply gave him a small nod as she held her breath. She wasn’t sure what to expect from him or if any of what he had to share would even be perspicuous, but with no one else to obtain information from, she was at the mercy of the enigma before her.

“Approximately three hours ago, Son Hyejoo’s true potential was realized with her first breath of mana,” he began. “The girl is not human. She is a magus born of darkness.”

“A magus…?” Chaewon asked slowly, logic already failing her. “What do you mean? What’s a magus? And what is mana…?”

“Forgive me,” the mysterious man apologized. “I have misplaced my wording. This world is not my own. In the context of this timeline, the proper terminology would be a necromancer. Son Hyejoo bears the ability to manipulate spiritus.”

“What...?”

Chaewon’s question was immediate. Her voice flat with mistrust, the disbelief that assailed her made itself easily visible through a grimace paired with strained eyes. “Hyejoo...a necromancer? You can’t be serious. She would’ve told me something like that. She...she trusts me...”

“Bear in my mind what I have told you—her potential was birthed on this very day, mere hours ago. It is not something she has kept secret.”

“Then...that’s why you’re involved? That’s why the Church is involved? If she’s a necromancer, then you’re going to…”

As the realization hit her, Chaewon fell deathly quiet. A horribly uncomfortable chill ran down her spine. She found her words slowly, her tone seized by an equal split of evolving horror and carefully restrained anger. “What have you done with her...?”

“Preparations for Son Hyejoo’s execution were completed a short while ago, but she will not be slain on this day. She has a far greater role to play in the grand scheme of things. History cannot be replicated without her.”

The ominous claim brought a wave of relief which washed away much of the darkness encroaching upon Chaewon’s headspace. All the same, her confusion only multiplied, now reaching a point where she could no longer sweep the holy man’s indeterminate words under the rug. “What exactly are you implying?”

“Her safety,” he answered Chaewon. “Despite the suffering she is currently enduring, Son Hyejoo will be safe.”

“Then can you take me to her? I want to see her,” Chaewon pleaded, sincerity clear as day in her eyes and in her forlorn frown.

“You are asking for the impossible.”

Chaewon felt an oddly placed sorrow shroud the area between the two of them as he spoke with palpable regret. 

“Unfortunately, that is not a request I can fulfill, for it is already too late. Beyond that, such an encounter cannot be allowed to occur, for it never occurred in the first place. You have already had the last meeting with Son Hyejoo you will ever have. To put it simply, you are an irrelevant version of Park Chaewon, and for that, I apologize.”

Chaewon blinked in silence as the man abruptly sought forgiveness for a bizarre claim. She remained without words while he briefly collected himself in mirrored quietude. Bringing his hand up, he pulled at the sleeve of his robe, revealing a remarkably expensive looking watch. He gazed it pensively for a moment before returning his sight to Chaewon. “Precisely a quarter past five o’ clock in the afternoon...that is to say, we have exactly one minute left.”

“Until what...?”

“Until Son Hyejoo inadvertently lays waste to this planet.”

The Church member’s tirade of nonsense continued still, baffling Chaewon to seemingly no end. “Beyond her own control, Son Hyejoo’s will to live is the beginning of the end for this entire universe. She shall render this timeline void of life by means of unwittingly spreading corruption, starting with this very city. Such is the unintended result of her refusal to break a promise a second time.”

Before Chaewon could even question what she had just heard, she was delivered what the man might have considered further explanation. Unfortunately, it raised only more questions and brought no answers or comfort to her frazzled mind, giving rise to growing frustration with every word.

“Even had I the power and had we time, I could not grant you the meeting with Son Hyejoo that you seek. As I said, such a meeting never even occurred in the first place. History must be replicated as it originally happened. Such is the reason we are meeting here at this exact moment in time as we always have, and such is the basis for everything I have orchestrated. Everything is preordained. Everything must occur with as little deviation from history as possible.”

“What the hell are you going on about?!”

Chaewon’s voice gave birth to a sudden outburst, her tolerance for ominous foreboding at its limit. “I don’t understand a single thing you’re saying! I just want to see my friend!”

“You are not fault for your lack of understanding,” he revealed, unfazed by her anger. “In truth, you are not meant to understand. Simply take solace in the fact that the person you care for most will be safe. Son Hyejoo will survive. Live the rest of your life knowing this and not worrying about her future, no matter how short that life may be.”

“No matter how short that life may be?” Chaewon repeated slowly, an expression of disturbed unease settling into her face in place of her exasperation. “You’re saying that as if I’m—”

“One minute has passed,” the abstruse holy man interrupted. His glance drifted away from Chaewon, looking up to the sky above. “It is now five-sixteen PM on the twenty-first moon of the eleventh cycle during the 831st succession of the Noble Wolf. As per the course of history, Son Hyejoo’s refusal to forfeit her life will now end all.”

At the precise moment his words came to a stop, Chaewon heard it.

From miles away, a monumentally thunderous boom unlike anything she had ever heard before resounded in the air. Had she been near its source, she was sure she would have gone deaf.

Turning around to face the noise, Chaewon was met with a sight that she could not immediately process. Far off in the horizon, visible well above the skyline of Lupus, a gargantuan, unfathomably thick spire of dark gray spiritus rose several miles in the air. At the top, it billowed outwards, looking eerily similar to a fresh mushroom cloud resulting from a nuclear bomb.

In the following moment, another ear-splitting blast resonated through the atmosphere from the same far-off source, and with it, the spiritus flew outwards in all directions. Chaewon’s eyes shook with fright as she watched the light of day slowly vanish from sight, the dust rushing across the sky and blanketing the world from the sun above.

“Insincere as it may sound, I am truly sorry for what you are about to witness and experience.”

From behind Chaewon, the holy man spoke once more.

Turning halfway, the girl’s face contorted with perplexion as she watched him procure a small rock from a pouch on his waist. With his free hand, he undid the cloth eyepatch tied around his head, and Chaewon was met with a sight that only bred more questions.

“In time, I will achieve my goals, and when I do, you will never have to suffer the following moments ever again,” he promised, his voice falling slightly. His mismatched left eye of faded dark gray revealed, Chaewon was left speechless as it suddenly gave off a steady light. With the illumination of his odd eye came a cloud of similarly colored spiritus after a still breath, his dust surrounding the crystal between his fingers.

“Until then, we will meet each other at this precise moment in time ad nauseam. However many times this reality must relive its complete destruction, I will replicate history until I find the solution to true eternity. Seek not understanding. All you must know is that the solution cannot be realized without suffering and sacrifice.”

Chaewon was left with zero chance to ponder the uncovered necromancer’s words as his dust quickly increased in density, seizing her thoughts. 

His spiritus coalescing in full, the man dropped the crystal from his grasp. It fell nowhere, its descent halted by a triangular prism manifested from his dust, imprisoning it within its clear walls. Floating in the air in front of him, the lack of emotion on his face remained in full as his odd eye flashed momentarily.

In an instant, the prism vanished from sight. It blinked out of existence as it collapsed in on itself, the crystal within shattering as it was compressed. From its remains, more spiritus came forth. The dust from within the crystal relocated itself behind the man with haste, spreading out and taking the shape of a standing rectangle. 

From the coalescence of the spiritus, a featureless door of black steel materialized. The frame of it radiated a charcoal aura that unsettled Chaewon greatly, emitting an outwardly sinister vibe. She was frozen and without words as the man turned around to face it, placing an open palm against its center and pushing forward. 

Dark gray light pouring out from the other side as he gradually opened it further and further, the man stepped past the doorway and into the sea of marred luminescence. Turning around, he paused before fully pushing the door closed, his eyes locked onto a paralyzed Chaewon. With an eerily calm temperament, he imparted his final words to the hopelessly flummoxed girl.

“Should it be of any consolation,” he offered, “her promise to you lives on. Son Hyejoo will stop at nothing to protect you. Though it may be a parallel version of yourself hailing from an alternate reality—a Park Chaewon she recognizes but does not know—she remembers  _ you _ . I suppose, in the end, you were blessed with what most would consider a genuine soulmate.”

Click.

The industrial looking door shut closed quietly, mimicking the same noise Chaewon had heard just before the holy man turned necromancer first spoke. Simultaneous with its shutting, it wasted no time evaporating into nothing, hastily erasing itself from existence.

Seconds which felt like elongated eras passed a paralyzed Chaewon by. Her mind was absolutely alight with a nonstop storm of question after question, all of which she feared she would never make sense of. The implications of having met the man several times in the past despite her lack of memory, of a member of the Church itself committing the supposed great sin of being a necromancer, of Hyejoo’s promised safety and of the fact that she would never see her again…

It all weighed heavily on Chaewon’s mind. Her unanswered queries were like iron restraints, anchoring her to where she stood and preventing her from moving elsewhere or thinking about anything else. She desperately tried to find even a single shred of logic in everything she had just heard, but when she came up short, she felt a discomforting depression sink into her heart.

Without warning, it sank deeper when she heard a high-pitched shriek of unhinged panic from a short distance away. Deeper and deeper still it continued to sink when other shrill screeches followed, creating a discordant mess of acoustic terror.

One shout in specific was well above its accompanying screams, and it swiftly freed Chaewon from her prison of paralysis. 

“I-it’s the heartbroken! Run!”

Chaewon’s heart began to race. As uncertainty of the unknown was forcefully replaced by uncertainty of her own survival, she felt the significant force of each fear-driven beat in her chest, seeming more than mighty enough to break through her torso.

Her panic wrestling away conscious control of her body’s movements away from her, Chaewon speedily turned around and began to run without much thought. Dashing out of the entrance of the apartment complex, she found herself thrust into the mass chaos that had suddenly claimed Lupus. A sight both wildly peculiar and downright horrifying brought a brief pause to her mind once more, leaving her to gawk with shock at the gruesome scene before her.

A pileup of several wrecked cars had brought a halt to all traffic of the city street in front of her. The cause was clearly visible just ahead of the frontmost vehicle—a young man was being raised into the air by a six foot tall mannequin made of gray plastic, his bloodied neck fully impaled by its sharpened blade of a right arm.

Fully fledged screams were now filling the air around Chaewon as drivers and passengers reacted to the scene by hurriedly escaping their trapped vehicles. While they joined the growing crowd of pedestrians running for their lives down the road, the male at the mercy of his murderer coughed a significant amount of blood as he failed to scream. The doll’s featureless face was bequeathed a sole decoration in the form of dripping splattered crimson.

The faceless beast wasn’t alone for long, however. To Chaewon’s horror, she witnessed for the first time the birth of the monsters which she had been lucky enough to never see in person before.

From the far reaching expanse of dense spiritus above which now painted the sky, small bits of it were falling steadily. Almost looking like dust bunnies, some of the clumps of spiritus came to a stop above ground, defying gravity and floating in a strangely menacing manner. They remained still for a moment before the dust began to increase in density, coalescing in a fashion similar to the display Chaewon had seen from the necromancer no more than a minute ago.

More and more the spiritus consolidated until, with a weak burst of light, crystals materialized in the centers of the floating clouds. Looking remarkably comparable to the crystal the man held, they gave off a faint light as the remaining spiritus surrounding them began to reorganize itself. 

As if being moved by an invisible force, the spiritus took the vague shape of humans. With the crystals placed center as the hearts, bodies were outlined by dust. The crystal hearts themselves began to emit further spiritus, the fresh dust thinning and spreading out into a complex web which connected it to the rest of the frame.

The spectacle seized the attention of a few other civilians much like Chaewon, certain individuals in the crowd now immobilized in frightened awe as the bodies shaped by spiritus suddenly began to coalesce. From the dust, the heartbrokens’ physical forms flashed into existence piece by piece. An arm, a leg, the opposite arm, the opposite leg, the blank head. Finally, encasing their rocky cores and veiling their origins from prying eyes, the torso as the centerpiece came last, linking them all together.

What was originally a single heartbroken in the center of the city street was now over a dozen. With more and more of them being actively birthed by the spiritus which fell from the sky above, the lives brought to an end by their indiscriminate carnage would multiply just as quickly as their ranks.

In a manner so calm it could been seen as disturbing, the heartbroken at the center of the expanding legion grabbed a shoulder of its now deceased prey. Pushing the corpse off its blade, it lowered its weapon and turned its head as the lifeless husk fell to the concrete below with a loud thud. It seemed to be scanning the environment, idly looking between the members of the audience who were too struck by fear to run.

Tilting its bloodstained head, it ultimately settled its murderous focus on a new target. It was a blonde-haired, white-knuckled girl with widened hazel eyes and shaky legs trembling in horror, anxiously grasping onto the strap of her messenger bag tighter than ever before.

Chaewon’s thoughts came to a screeching halt. The sight of the bladed heartbroken suddenly breaking into a furious sprint towards her consumed all stretches of her mind, leaving room for only a single thought.

_ Run. _

In that moment, something Chaewon had never experienced before sparked within her.

_ I have to run. _

It was animalistic self-preservation in its rawest form. Pure instinct to simply survive began to course through every individual fiber of her being, subconsciously calling her feet to action.

_ I need to run. _

There was zero thought to her movements, zero thought to the people around her. Set free from her stunned shock, Chaewon felt an intense burn in the muscles of her legs as she turned towards the length of the street and started to dash without deliberation.

_ I’m going to die if I don’t run. _

Chaewon ran. 

_ Don’t stop running. _

As fast as her legs could carry her, and as far as her stamina would allow her to, Chaewon ran. 

With unbreaking focus, her characterless aggressor chased after her in a frenzy, maintaining an uncomfortably close distance to her. Had Chaewon been even a fraction slower, it would have just barely been in range to strike her down. By the excruciating, burning pain surging through her swiftly moving legs, however, Chaewon had delayed death itself.

Unfortunately, others who could not shake themselves away from their fear to answer the call of self-preservation were not so lucky. 

One by one, paralyzed onlookers were mercilessly struck down, meeting their ends at the hands of the plastic monstrosities. Out of the corner of her eye, Chaewon witnessed an older woman being stabbed deep into her gut. Her silent terror continued without fanfare as her attacker ripped its serrated sword arm out of her stomach, dodging the downward path of her falling body with a sidestep.

Similar sights assailed Chaewon’s crumbling composure as her body strained itself to continue running. Swathes of people all around her fell dead into pools of their own blood as more and more of the heartbroken came to life within the boundaries of one of mankind’s supposed sanctuaries. They descended from rooftops above and emerged from the insides of buildings to kill without end, going about what could only be classified as full-blown genocide. 

As Chaewon turned the corner onto another road, her focused mind was momentarily displaced by the harsh sound of tires skidding followed by an immediate crash. 

A city bus had just unexpectedly swerved into the side of a building, and with it, the sound of despair-ridden screams increased. The cause was a heartbroken leaping through the windshield of the bus, sending glass in every direction and strangling the driver as he jerked the steering wheel in a panic.

Escaping the vehicle through its emergency exit, passengers of Lupus’ public transport joined the general crowd that Chaewon was running with. Like a mindless horde of startled cattle, the group stampeded down the road in utter chaos. People pushed others without consideration as they struggled to separate themselves from what was now an army of heartbroken chasing them down. Passing a major four-way intersection, more and more people from the crossing roads joined the scramble in an effort to escape.

Short and lightweight, Chaewon found her body being tossed like a ragdoll as the forward sprinting fray around her magnified further and further in size. In the center of the ongoing rush of people, it became exceedingly difficult for her to maintain her footing, helplessly at the mercy of the crowd’s current.

_ Keep running...I have to keep— _

Chaewon’s thoughts were cut off by a guttural wail originating from right behind her. With it, the center section of the cluster she was in came to a sudden halt. 

Bumping into the person in front of her, Chaewon was forced to a stop. Her heart’s breakneck pace was now in opposition to her lack of forward movement, setting the stage for undue confusion in her mind. She had to keep running. They all had to. So why had they stopped?

Unlike her encounter with the necromancer prior, Chaewon was given a meaningful answer for her question. It came in the form of continued screaming from the people closest to her, simultaneous with the sudden sensation of something piercing her abdomen all the way through.

Looking down slowly, Chaewon caught a glimpse of the sharpened plastic which had torn her stomach asunder. The bladed appendage left her vision as it was pulled out from behind her, leaving her to stare at her gaping wound in wide-eyed bemusement.

Not once losing focus on her during its persistent chase, the heartbroken hunting Chaewon had made its move when the expanding herd of people slowed her down. With seismic force and pinpoint accuracy, it launched itself off the ground from behind the pack and knocked others aside in order to land right behind her, finishing what it had set out to accomplish.

Slowly stumbling down to her knees, Chaewon became the center of pandemonium as the entire flock of hysterical civilians began to disperse from around her. Bedlam unfolded as people ran in random directions, seeking to distance themselves from the creature that had infiltrated the pack from above. 

As a small clearing was made around her by way of everyone fleeing her general vicinity, a kneeling Chaewon inched her trembling hands towards her stomach. The blood pouring from the hole in her flesh painted her skin and shirt alike a sickly vermilion, and with every moment she spent looking at it, her senses began to disintegrate.

Her strength failing her, Chaewon collapsed onto the asphalt below her. Out of her peripheral vision, she saw a plastic figure step forward from behind her. The heartbroken who had attacked her was looking down at her silently, its face without a face seemingly evaluating its work. With the only response coming from Chaewon being spasmodic, ragged breaths, it deemed its task complete and ran off a moment later, continuing its path of destruction without even a hint of hesitation.

As the inside of her body began to break down from its rapid loss of blood, Chaewon’s half-lidded gaze fell upon the bracelet decorating the wrist of her outstretched hand. The sight of the butterfly-shaped clasp brought a single faded image to the front of her decaying mind.

_ Hyejoo… _

Chaewon’s headspace became absorbed by the presence of someone who meant more to her than words could convey. 

The image of Hyejoo superseded every other possible thought that could have come to Chaewon. Beyond her family, beyond the unanswered questions of hell breaking loose around her, and beyond her own growing fear of her forthcoming passing, thoughts of Hyejoo claimed the honored spot of the final thoughts she’d ever have. 

The complete chaos all around Chaewon slowly fell out of focus for her. Her hearing vanishing, the only sound the dying girl registered was a memory of Hyejoo’s contagious laughter in her head, alongside the warm visual of her pure-hearted smile. As small a smile as it was, it managed to make Chaewon feel the same tranquil peace it always did, even when she was approaching death’s door.

As the apocalypse proper was ushered in with more and more victims falling dead all around her, Chaewon continued to fade. 

Though an endless swarm of people continued to rush through the streets, she was paid no mind much like others who had fallen. Seized by their instinct to survive much like she had, those who still drew breath spared no thought to save others. They couldn’t afford to—the heartbroken were now beginning to slowly but surely outnumber the citizens present on the streets, their ongoing births and sweeping hunt alike still unceasing.

Chaewon felt her heart slow to a crawl. Beyond her own control, despite her best efforts to keep them open, her eyes began to close in rebellion. Her consciousness was slipping. Fully cognizant of the reality that she would undeniably never wake again, Chaewon’s expiring mind was silent as it recalled something.

_ Her promise to you lives on. Hyejoo will stop at nothing to protect you. _

As recent as the conversation was, the Church member’s voice was already becoming hazy in Chaewon’s head. His words were fading piece by piece much like her own state of being, but even through death’s gradual embrace, she could hear them.

_ She remembers  _ **_you_ ** _. I suppose, in the end, you were blessed with what most would consider a genuine soulmate. _

Though the entirety of her encounter with the enigmatic holy man felt like incomprehensible nonsense, and though part of her still struggled to accept his minacious allegations, Chaewon ultimately found the very consolation he promised in his final goodbye.

The realization put her at ease. Through a promise which would inevitably transcend the boundaries of an entire universe, Chaewon found strength others could only imagine grasping. It easily erased all traces of fear within every stretch of her mind, allowing her the honor of passing on without distress or sorrow.

_ I don’t need to be scared, do I, Hyejoo…? _

A faint smile showed itself on Chaewon’s face. It was as wistful as it was optimistic, and it intensified to a slight extent as Hyejoo’s own smile became reflected in her head once more.

_ Even if I’m not here, you’ll protect me. I know you will. _

Her closest friend now fading from her memory, so too did Chaewon’s sight fade as she slowly closed her eyes of her own volition. Free of fear, she followed next, her transition between life and death blessed with otherworldly equanimity.

_ Just like you always have...just like you promised. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading! i hope you found it enjoyable. for any questions or comments outside of AO3;  
> —https://twitter.com/Helseivich  
> —https://curiouscat.me/Helseivich


	17. 「 episode 17; arc 0.9e 」 —fragments of cipher//concept— 「 historia v 」

**「** **episode 17; arc 0.9e** **」 —fragments of cipher//concept— 「** **historia v 」**

“So, basically, you’re all picking a fight with an old man…?”

“Well, uh...yeah, I guess that’s one way to put it. Most people usually need a minute to process the other part, though. You know, the part about the multiverse? And the whole thing about there being an infinite amount of parallel timelines? That part…?”

“I didn’t forget that bit. Just didn’t find it hard to understand, I guess.”

“You take no issue with the idea, then? You believe us…?”

“I do, yeah. Makes enough sense to me. After all, she’s proof of it.”

Hyejoo’s exchange with Jungeun and Jiwoo came to a stop with her redirected focus towards Chaewon. 

The campfire at the center of the group’s seated circle danced with a steady sway as Chaewon became the center of attention. She blinked, pointing at herself and looking at Hyejoo. “Do you...do you mean me?”

Hyejoo nodded, holding her gaze on Chaewon. The girl of light was slowly becoming used to being intensely focused on by Hyejoo, enough so that she noticed that the necromancer no longer seemed to be emanating anxiety as they looked at each other. There was still a perceivable sorrow in Hyejoo’s eyes, but she was no longer avoiding eye contact. It was as if she had pieced together a missing key component which had been the source of her apprehension.

When Hyejoo explained herself proper, understanding branched across the sorceresses in waves as they made sense of the despondent gloom which tinted her hues. “Do you remember what I said when I woke up?”

“That Chaewon looks and sounds just like her, and that she was practically her twin?” Haseul recalled aloud, inciting nods from the others. She looked between Hyejoo and Chaewon for a moment as she shared in the epiphany. “Then by ‘her’, you mean to say that you know of someone who is—”

“Knew. And was.”

Hyejoo made a correction she so deeply wished she didn’t have to make, gently cutting off Haseul as she looked back to the dance of flames at their center. “She was someone I knew who was really important to me, but she’s gone now, just like everyone else. So the fact that you’re basically a carbon copy of her in both name and looks, sitting here alive and well when there’s no way she’s still around otherwise…”

Hyejoo’s train of thought paused as she considered it in full. It seemed absurd to be sure, but by due process of elimination, there was no other conclusion to arrive at. Her voice was especially quiet when she spoke what she could only see as the truth.

“...you’re another version of my best friend from another world. You’re her, but you’re not. Feels like I’m seeing a ghost, but it’s not your fault. I’ll just have to get used to it...”

“You know about even that part of the multiverse theory, then?” Sooyoung questioned, slightly surprised about the younger girl’s due acceptance of the facts. “We usually only mention it on a need-to-know basis since it’s a bit of a rare occurrence, but it seems like you’ve already put two and two together.”

“I’ve read up on this kind of thing, so yeah, I get the idea,” Hyejoo confessed, meeting Sooyoung’s eyes in full. “For every alternate reality out there, there’s versions of all of us that exist in them, native to each one. I wondered if that kind of concept could seriously be true, but to meet a replica of someone I knew...doesn’t get much more convincing than that.”

The sorceresses allowed Hyejoo a moment to collect her thoughts as she went quiet, still peering at the flames which kept them warm underneath Sooyoung’s roof of unmelting ice. In truth, Chaewon was just as much in need of a silent retreat into her headspace as the gravity of the situation settled into her mind. 

In time, Hyejoo found her voice again, announcing her thoughts as she looked up. “He’s really the reason for all of this, then? This guy called YG?”

Solemn expressions with heavy-hearted frowns stared back at Hyejoo. Haseul answered proper. “That’s correct. Though we still don’t know what exactly happened to this world between your first blackout and when you woke up days later, whatever occurred must’ve resulted in the spread of corruption in the sky. That corruption started at some point in this universe’s leyline, and it came from him.”

“Corruption this dense must’ve ended up in an unreal amount of fiends coming to life,” Jungeun commented. “Can’t imagine what the streets must’ve been like the moment it all went down, whatever ‘it’ was.”

“Fiends...you said that was your word for those monsters, right? The plastic dolls?”

“Yes, those would be the fiends we speak of,” Jiwoo confirmed Hyejoo’s inquiry. Curiosity took hold of her as she tilted her head. “You referred to them as the heartbroken, did you not? I must say, that is a title more unique than most we’ve heard for them…”

“Just another part of the Church’s ridiculous fairy tale that they spun for centuries,” Hyejoo dismissed with a roll of her eyes and a tired sigh. 

“It was some absurd idea that tied into how they viewed spiritus as the souls of those who couldn’t pass on after death. Since those things come from that messed up spiritus, they played it up as the heartbroken being those who died with regrets and sins heavy enough to bring them back to life. You can think of it as them being anchored to the world because they can’t let go.”

“I’m more thinking it’s complete bullshit.”

“Because it is,” Hyejoo agreed with Sooyoung’s assessment. “Just another excuse to make people follow God and confess their sins, I think. If you didn’t, you’d supposedly end up as one of the heartbroken yourself, which they liked to call a fate worse than death. Unfortunately, most people bought it. They really had a vice grip on the whole world’s way of thinking…”

“That would explain the rest of the terminology on this planet, then,” Haseul mused quietly, tapping on her chin. “Necromancy, necromancers, the deathstream...it all correlates to this core belief that mana is the leftover essence of departed lives. How grim…”

“In any case, I don’t think I’ll be much help. Sorry.”

An early judgment call paired with a sudden apology from Hyejoo brought rise to confusion from the others. A melancholic aura was beginning to seep from her being, her eyes dropping. “I don’t know how to fight. I don’t even know how to do necromancy. I’ve only ever done it once, and it was by complete mistake.”

“You’ve only done it once?” Chaewon asked, her disbelief reflected on the faces of her comrades. All due focus from LOONA’s sorceresses was drawn to Hyejoo’s lavender iris. “But your eye...that only happens when you’ve either utilized enough of your mana or on it’s own after a very long time. How did it change…?”

“I don’t know. When I woke up after being thrown into the portal, it was like this.”

“What?” 

Haseul’s voice broke through before anyone else could think to speak. Her face rife with shock, she was leaning forward slightly as she sought further explanation. “Hyejoo, how old are you?”

“Uh...if it’s the second moon of the tenth cycle, then I’m turning twenty-one in just over a month.”

“And when did you first breathe out mana?”

“Spiritus?” Hyejoo thought aloud, having to make a brief connection to the team’s wording that she had only just been introduced to. “It’s been eleven months. It was the same day all of this started...”

Haseul fell silent.

Almost without thinking, her eyes sought out Sooyoung, remembering their previous discussion. Much like before, she found the woman of ice already looking at her with the selfsame somber stare. As more and more of the mystery surrounding Hyejoo was unraveled, Sooyoung seemed to be gaining a steady amount of confidence in her conclusions.

Though Haseul was already formulating her own counterpoints and potential explanations, with zero knowledge of what actually transpired during the necromancer’s first blackout, the scientist held her tongue. With respect, Sooyoung did the same.

A wave of relief engulfed Jungeun as she watched Sooyoung break off from Haseul to engage Hyejoo instead, avoiding the resurrection of a still unneeded discussion. “So you’ve only ever used your mana once, and it was a mistake? Does that have anything to do with the accident you mentioned?”

“Yeah...yeah, it does.”

Hyejoo’s volume fell to a near murmur. Her gaze remained lugubriously downcast as a shadowy dread began to creep up on her. The atmosphere around her didn’t go unnoticed, inciting Jungeun to speak up. “Hyejoo, if you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to.”

“No, I do. It’s something you guys should know, especially if you’re considering taking me back with you.”

As fearful as she was of sharing it and as much as she was already beginning to hurt from just remembering it, Hyejoo lifted her head out of the pool of sorrow which had drowned her past. With little hesitation, she spoke in a clear, concise tone while making eye contact with Sooyoung specifically.

“On the day I became a necromancer, I killed my mother in self-defense. That was the accident.”

Sooyoung’s expression was the only one not to begin an immediate descent. She held her funereal countenance as she listened to Hyejoo in full. 

“She wanted to cut my eye out like she did her own. In her mind, it was the safest way to live in our world as a necromancer, and to be honest, I don’t think she was wrong in thinking as much. But I was confused. They always said necromancers awaken during early to mid-adolescence, and I was already twenty. I thought I was safe, but then...there it was. My spiritus…”

Bringing her legs closer to her, Hyejoo rested her arms atop her knees and buried her face slightly in the sleeves of her jacket. Her sight wandered to Jungeun’s flames, their heat reminding them of her mother’s own. “I tried talking to her. Tried to settle on another possible solution. I was scared. I didn’t want to lose my eye. I ended up trying to run, but she grabbed me. I closed my eyes, and in the next second, she was dead.

“I still don’t know how I did it. I didn’t even mean to. No one believed me, but Mother was the last person I would ever want to hurt,” Hyejoo avowed. Tears began to well up in her eyes, and Sooyoung took keen notice of the girl’s refusal to cry with her swift wiping of them before they could fall. 

“Someone called the police. I was taken in and interrogated by a member of the Church. My spiritus had stopped coming out on its own by that point, but when I was talking to him, it happened again. I got angry and I just started breathing it out. Mother told me it could only be summoned through conscious thought, but…”

From behind the cover of Hyejoo’s sleeves, a muffled sniffle could be heard. Raising her head anew, Hyejoo brought an end to her tale. “So that’s what’s happened. I haven’t even bothered trying my hand at necromancy because I just don’t know how to do it and I’m scared of losing control of my spiritus again. I can’t fight. I can’t do anything. I’m not worth saving.”

Hyejoo’s conclusion drove knives deep into the hearts of her saviors. 

The sorceresses struggled to respond to her in any sort of fashion, and Hyejoo knew they were not at fault for it. They could only replay her words in their minds again and again as they made an attempt to comprehend the degree of pure misfortune that befell her. With the hands of fate robbing her of everything she ever knew and whatever future she might have had, Hyejoo’s suffering was seemingly without parallel.

Above all others, Chaewon’s spirit was especially strained. With Hyejoo’s head buried again and her gaze on the fire, she failed to realize the disconsolate depression that Chaewon stared at her with. The girl of light could not have predicted that the soul she sought to save would have been one born of such star-crossed affliction, and the fact that she could do little to truly help only dragged her spirit down further.

“Well, the idea of awakenings being tied to adolescence is just a misunderstanding resulting from the most common age range. Some magi don’t awaken until their early twenties. Others, before they’re even ten years old.”

A strangely calm voice acted against the silent moroseness that had swallowed the group whole. It was Sooyoung, oddly relaxed as she began to stand up from her cross-legged position on the ground. “It’s uncommon, but it happens. Until your body finishes fully maturing, an awakening can happen at literally any time.”

“Sooyoung…?”

“Your mana, your spiritus—whatever you want to call it—most likely manifested due to high levels of stress compromising your mental state,” Sooyoung continued, Jiwoo’s voice going unanswered. Everyone was looking at the Master sorceress in full now, Hyejoo appearing particularly in a daze with her mouth agape. 

“When you’re just starting out, you can lose control of it easily if you don’t keep your cool. It’ll take shape on its own and things will happen without you meaning to. This can happen if you’re sad, angry, scared...doesn’t matter what you’re feeling. If you’re overwhelmed, you lose control,” the swordswoman divulged as she began to walk forward, heading past the group. “Even years of experience won’t stop it from happening if it gets especially bad.”

“Sooyoung, where are you going?”

Coming to a stop a few dozen paces ahead as Haseul called out to her, Sooyoung turned around and faced the now approaching group. Hyejoo was at the center, and she was the recipient of Sooyoung’s focus. 

“You were scared for your life when your mother attacked you, so you produced an effect outside of your control. Likewise, whatever you felt during your interrogation made you draw out your mana without meaning to,” Sooyoung proceeded without explaining her actions, her elucidation bewitching Hyejoo. 

“Your very first hours as a magus coincided with extremely stressful situations. It’s no surprise you had zero control, and I understand why those situations made you too scared to try again, but you don’t need to be. You’re already capable of controlling it and fighting with it. You just don’t know it yet.”

“Sooyoung, is now really the best time to—”

The sound of cracking ice accompanied by a shimmer of bright cyan from Sooyoung’s eye interrupted Haseul’s question.

A small bed of ice at Sooyoung’s feet had instantly burst outwards, her mana coalescing so quickly it flashed into existence. More of her dust began to take shape in her outstretched open palm, extending out and creating the outline of her greatsword. With the gradual passing of a runic circle, she purposefully constructed it at a relaxed pace, leaving Hyejoo wide-eyed the entire time.

Her weapon completed, Sooyoung turned over the single-edged slab of frozen steel. Stabbing the ice at her feet, she let go of it, leaving it on display. In complete awe at the massive blade of frost, Hyejoo’s eyes were lost to Sooyoung’s massive armament. She approached it slowly, her bewilderment multiplying as she watched the runes along the center of the blade come to life with a soft glow.

“Sooyoung.”

For the third time, Haseul was in search of answers from her ally. She stood with Jiwoo and Jungeun a small ways back from the inquisitive Hyejoo and Chaewon attending her. 

Finally gracing Haseul with her attention, Sooyoung offered Chaewon a small nod before stepping away towards the other three. Chaewon was left to watch a curious Hyejoo walk around the greatsword slowly, silently inspecting it from every angle. If nothing else, Sooyoung’s motion to showcase her weapon seemed to incite a positive reversal on the ambience of the group, the drab mood thoroughly washed away. It eased Chaewon, allowing her the peace of mind to smile again while she kept a close eye on Hyejoo.

Approaching the three, Sooyoung finally graced them with a proper reply. She restrained her voice, keeping the conversation out of Hyejoo’s earshot. “We need to show her what she can do. She needs to know that she can be in control.”

“Well, yes, I agree with that sentiment, but now?” Jiwoo asked. Uncertainty was plain on her grimace as she pensively rubbed the surface of a gemstone attached to one of her necklaces. “Suddenly leaping from a discussion of her tragedy to teaching her how to engage in elementalism...it feels rather callous…”

“No...no, I think Sooyoung’s got the right idea.”

With crossed arms and a small smirk, Jungeun sounded off her approval while watching Hyejoo from afar. “You heard her. She doesn’t think she’s worth saving, all because she doesn’t know how to be what she actually is. We can show her right here what she’s capable of.”

“It’s either this or sit in awkward silence as she decides what she wants to do,” Sooyoung added, eliciting a supportive nod from Jungeun as the two looked to Haseul and Jiwoo. “We can let her darkness stew, or we can show her the gift of her own potential.”

“So long as there’s no pressure for her to come back with us or join LOONA just because of her abilities as a magus, then...fine,” Haseul submitted, her vision glued to Hyejoo with a look of worried concern. “As much as I don’t want to leave her here, if she decides that for herself, we must respect it.”

“You’ve got it backwards. If she stays, it’s all the more reason to teach her,” Sooyoung countered. “She should know how to defend herself against fiends. I’m amazed she’s gone on this long without knowing as much.”

“Yes, I suppose that is quite the fair point. Now I can’t help but wonder if she’s been lucky enough to simply avoid them or if they simply stopped appearing for some other reason…”

“How did you make this thing?”

Hyejoo’s raised voice brought an end to the chatter on the sidelines. She was looking at the secluded group, and Sooyoung met her glance as she walked back towards her.

“It starts with a concept,” Sooyoung began, coming to a stop next to her blade. Hyejoo listened to her words with an intense focus as the others followed. “It’s as simple as thinking of a concept and continuing to think about it until it becomes reality. Conscious thought powers everything, which is why not thinking straight due to being stressed or otherwise makes you lose control.”

“Making a weapon, though?” Hyejoo asked, still in disbelief at the personally crafted sword before her. “I don’t remember Mother or anyone else ever talking about something like this being possible…”

Sooyoung frowned slightly. “That’s what tends to happen in worlds like this where our persecution is a centuries old basis of life. Everything I’ve told you so far is extremely basic information, and summoning your weapon is one of the first steps a magus takes. Assuming the Church of the Sacred Fang was even aware of this themselves, I’m sure they kept it top secret to keep necromancers’ abilities at a minimum.”

“Wait, _my_ weapon?” Hyejoo parroted with a blink. “Even I can make this…?”

“Not that weapon specifically, no, but you do have access to one.”

From Hyejoo’s side, a brief wave of heat passed her by alongside Jungeun’s voice.

Sooyoung smiled as the woman of fire stepped forward with her freshly materialized halberd in hand. She dug it into the ice right next to Sooyoung’s greatsword as she joined the spontaneous lesson. “You can summon it by bringing out your mana and focusing on the concept of a weapon. That’s all it takes.”

From the frozen steel to the heated iron on display, Hyejoo’s vision fell to her hands. She held them in front of her chest, her hues filled with careful optimism as she curated her thoughts specifically with the intention of ushering forth her spiritus.

Emotional pain rooted in her past began to vie for her heart as she watched her violet dust begin to materialize around her hands. There was a persistent worry that it would act on its own accord as it did before, but a mesmerizing relief claimed her as she witnessed it bending to her will by simply existing and doing nothing more.

Making an attempt to follow Jungeun’s instructions, Hyejoo began to focus on the idea of a weapon. Her thoughts began to stray, however, and a perturbed look washed over her face as she shook her head. “I’m not really sure what to think about for a weapon...I don’t know what’d be a good fit for me to fight the heartbroken.”

“When we speak of concepts, we mean it literally.”

With a smile, Chaewon shed light on Hyejoo’s confusion as their eyes met one another. “You don’t need to think of what sort of weapon you want to use or what would work best. In truth, you have already been assigned one. Whatever your mind most associates with the concept of a weapon is what will come forth. You need only to focus on that mere concept.”

“So I’m trying to be too specific?”

“Precisely.”

Looking at her spiritus once again, Hyejoo took in a steady breath and resumed her efforts.

It was a strange task, to purposefully think of a concept in as broad a scope as possible. Hyejoo found herself closing her eyes in order to focus better, erasing thought after thought of predetermined weapons and instead zeroing in on the idea of simply becoming equipped with one.

At a snail’s pace, the dust surrounding Hyejoo’s hands began to increase in density. The sorceresses watched closely as it thinned outwards, and Jungeun raised an eyebrow as it began to take shape. 

When she felt a sudden weight in her hands, Hyejoo’s thoughts came to a stop. Immediately opening her eyes, she was briefly overcome with shock.

“Huh...don’t see that too often.”

Jungeun’s surprise resonated with the rest of the group as they watched the final pieces of Hyejoo’s scythe manifest. Hyejoo went slack-jawed as she peered upon its completed form, her odd eye momentarily giving off a faint light in unison with the illumination of runes that ran across the curved three-foot blade. 

“There’s no way...”

Hyejoo’s astonishment was two-fold. While part of what shook her core was the fact that she had managed to summon a weapon as they said, the other aspect was making her mind race in baffled consternation.

It was the fact that she was looking at the same weapon she had spent years using in an online game.

“T-this...this thing isn’t even real,” Hyejoo stammered, struggling to make sense of what was in her grasp. Her grip on the scythe’s handles tightened, as if she was doubting its physicality. “This is something I used in a video game...I don’t understand…”

“Doesn’t matter where it came from.”

A dismissive pronouncement from Sooyoung cut Hyejoo’s doubt in twain. “Sometimes what we associate with the concept of a weapon is something real. Sometimes it isn’t. Even if it’s from some game, it was probably more than just a game to you, right? You might have a lot of good memories from it, maybe from playing it with someone important to you, all while using that scythe.”

Without meaning to, Hyejoo looked at Chaewon as Sooyoung continued. “At the end of the day, that scythe and your experiences with it are what defines your personal concept of a weapon, and that’s the foundation for all elementalism—using your mana to turn concepts into reality, all through conscious thought.”

Chaewon found herself stricken with second-hand grief as Hyejoo’s sullen eyes fell from their locked gaze back to the shade of violet she held in her hands. 

Hyejoo kept her vision trained on it for a moment, her mind recounting the countless hours she spent with the Chaewon she knew. Endless adventures and battles fought side by side, fulfilling her promise to protect her by defending her from harm with her weapon of choice—the weapon that now rested in her hands, actualized in full by her own power.

Lifting her head, a thought came to Hyejoo as she looked at the ice which acted as a pedestal for Sooyoung and Jungeun’s weapons. The thought persisted as she looked at Chaewon’s bridge of dust still connected to her, urging her to raise a question. “If everything is tied to concepts, what concepts do I think of for other stuff…?”

“You should start with two concepts primarily,” Jungeun instructed. Extending both of her arms, she showed her palms to Hyejoo. A short breath called forth two clouds of her crimson essence, one floating above each hand.

“The first is offense,” Jungeun said, her odd eye flashing as a sphere of hot flame took shape above her right hand. At the same time, the dust above her left palm spread across her forearm, coalescing until it engulfed it in a protective coat of swirling fire. “The second is defense.” 

“There are other concepts you can work with, but you can make do with those two as a beginner,” Jungeun concluded. Her flames dissipating, she placed a hand on her hip and gave Hyejoo a smile. “Once you know what you can do, you can replicate specific effects by thinking about the same thing. So, if you ever make something especially useful, you can make it again.”

“Give it a shot, Hyejoo.”

Encouraged by Chaewon, Hyejoo gave the group a small nod and continued her ongoing efforts of self-discovery.

At her behest, clouds of her violet dust began to aggregate in front of her with a slow exhale through her nostrils. Nearly losing focus as it began to coalesce, Hyejoo steeled her nerves as she wiped the resurfacing image of her mother’s fallen corpse from her mind.

_Stay in control._

Her pockets of spiritus now measurably thick, Hyejoo did her best to consider the broad concept of offense. Thoughts of attacking nothing in particular filled her head, aimlessly striking a target which didn’t exist. Before long, her potential answered in a discomforting manner.

Spherical voids of black shadow were floating in front of Hyejoo. She swallowed in nervousness as they pulsed with life. Her saviors examined them closely with her as they abruptly ejected thorny, metallic spikes of deep lavender from their insides, lashing out at the air around them.

Exact copies of the same spikes which had rendered her mother lifeless, the trauma Hyejoo fought to subdue was quickly rising up against her once more. Fear drove her to wish for their cessation, and when they did just that by means of retracting back into darkness, Hyejoo could only blink in surprise.

With a still tight grip on her scythe, Hyejoo thought of a desire for the spikes’ resurgence. In response, they resumed, protruding once more and stabbing nothing. The cycle of them starting and stopping continued for a moment, Hyejoo dumbfounded by her own ability to influence them by exerting her own will upon it.

“I see you’ve already realized the degree of control you can exercise over an effect,” Jiwoo praised the necromancer with a warm smile. “You seem to be getting the hang of it, Hyejoo.”

Though she didn’t share it, Hyejoo was beginning to feel empowered.

The dark harbingers of death which took her mother from her, the subject of many a nightmare and the source of her own guilt...she was their master. All along, she had been capable of controlling them. Her fear of her own strength, though understandable, was ultimately misplaced.

Silently, as per Jungeun’s instructions, Hyejoo shifted her mind to the concept of defense. 

She thought of keeping herself safe, deterring an invisible attacker who might be coming at her. The spheres of nothingness answered without hesitation, moving closer to her. Their autonomous reaction involved them lining up in two columns, and what came next was a screeching sound of metal scraping against metal.

Elongated spikes of violet interlocked like a crisscrossed fence, creating a thorned barricade in front of Hyejoo. She stepped back, analyzing her own effect in amazement. “I didn’t even think of using them like that…”

“It’s merely what your concept of self-defense is at this moment in time,” Haseul explained. “And now that you’ve seen it, if you think about it specifically, you can recreate it, just as Jungeun said. That’s the basic idea—we focus on broad concepts, creating techniques and effects that we may not even realize we’re thinking of, and then we use them of our own volition.”

“Does that mean there are other weapons I can use?” Hyejoo asked curiously, her sight gliding over her scythe as her spheres of shadow began to dissipate. “What if a weapon isn’t the right tool for a battle? Can I just...create another one?”

“Do you recall when I said you had already been assigned a weapon?” Chaewon said, bringing Hyejoo’s attention to her. 

“That was also quite literal. Weapon manifestation functions a little differently. From the very moment you became a magus, your concept of a weapon at that point in time was essentially locked in. Deliberating on the same concept of offense or defense can develop different effects, but our concepts of a weapon remain constant. They stand as a personal testament to our experiences in life leading up to our first breath of mana.”

“There are instances of magi having access to more than one weapon, but that’s a rarity, and it’s also a topic for another day,” Sooyoung added on before addressing Hyejoo’s original question. “Even if it’s not the best tool, it’s yours. You can do more with it than you realize.”

“How? I don’t actually know how to use this thing in real life. I’m not some character in a video game...”

Hyejoo’s protest came in a dejected murmur. A cool breeze swept the grassy field by, shuffling her hair as she brought her eyes back to physical manifestations of fire and ice on display. “You guys use all sorts of different weapons...if none of you have something like this, who can teach me how to use it?”

“You don’t need to be taught.”

From a few paces behind Sooyoung, unanticipated sounds of ice bursting once again followed her voice.

With minimal effort, the woman of ice had birthed a series of frozen spires in a haphazard arrangement. Of varying heights and sizes, they appeared fairly brittle with cracks running over different parts of their lengths. Her comrades could easily tell that she had crafted them for the sole purpose of being destroyed, and they already knew why.

Hyejoo’s gaze was lost between the frozen formations and an expectant yet patient Sooyoung. “Am I supposed to break those...?”

“Yeah. Go on.”

“But I don’t—”

“I’m serious. You’ll be fine.”

Stepping next to Hyejoo, Sooyoung placed an encouraging hand on her back and showed her a genuine smile. “No one needs to teach you anything. You’ll see.”

For reasons Hyejoo didn’t understand, the swordswoman seemed to have the utmost faith in her. Said faith flowed outwards, showing itself in nods of encouragement from the other sorceresses.

With anxious steps, Hyejoo made her way towards the center of the icy constructs. Her fingers uncurling and re-curling around the grips of her scythe, Hyejoo eyed the ice, unsure of both where to start and how to go about her task. The possibility of somehow embarrassing herself in front of seasoned necromancers began to pull at her composure. With a breath, she steadied herself.

_It’s not like before. I’m in control. Relax._

The fog encroaching upon Hyejoo’s mind dissipated. With a clear head and little more to do than trust their faith in her, she engaged her stationary targets.

The tall girl’s footsteps were heavy, her boots crunching down on dead grass as she closed in on the first statue of ice. With her weight on her ankles, she anchored herself in place and twisted her waist, slashing right through the middle of the spire while keeping her balance with well-calculated posture. Her unmoving enemy shattering into pieces, Hyejoo banked left and ran for her next closest target.

Using the range of her weapon to her advantage, she slid to a stop further away from it than the previous. She leaned forward with her scythe extended horizontally, ripping through the spire from a safe distance in a move that made Jungeun smile. When it crumbled to the ground, Hyejoo was already on the move again.

Transitioning into a mobile assault, the girl of darkness began a finely executed series of running slashes, taking down frozen target after frozen target while weaving her way between them all. Mindful of the random variance between the heights where their cracks were placed, she adjusted her grip on her scythe when necessary, flipping it over and striking from above or below as required.

By Hyejoo’s work, most of Sooyoung’s creations had been reduced to fragments. Several feet away at the end of the area Sooyoung designated for the exercise, only three remained in close proximity of each other. With all three in her field of view, Hyejoo exhaled a generous breath.

A sizable cloud of purple dust surrounded the three frosted figures, and with a vague thought of attack in her mind, Hyejoo’s amethyst eye gave off a brilliant light in tandem with her scythe’s runes. Her spiritus became thicker and thicker, coalescing into a network of black spheres. 

Expecting the same attack she had just shown off, the sorceresses were caught off guard as the voids at Hyejoo’s command suddenly shifted upwards. They came together, unifying into three separate spheres of a more worthwhile size. With one above each of Sooyoung’s spires, shards of ice flew out in every direction as they met their end from above.

Hyejoo witnessed her own might as her darkness rained down. Each of her voids released a torrential downpour of jagged lavender metal, small bits and pieces piercing through the ice like shrapnel from a bomb. In no time at all, each construct broke into thousands of fragments, leaving the field empty once more with only their remains.

Catching her breath, Hyejoo refreshed her lungs as her effect ended with the dematerialization of her shadowy spheres. It was only during her respite that she realized it—

“Wait...what? How did I…?”

—the fact that she had performed her feats without any forward thought or planning.

Footsteps approached her from behind. Turning around, her thoroughly awestruck expression was met with impressed smiles from all but Sooyoung. The swordswoman’s grin was one born of confidence instead, clearly happy that her faith in Hyejoo’s abilities had been proven.

“I don’t...I don’t understand,” Hyejoo said between breaths, appearing helplessly puzzled. “I didn’t plan any of that. I’m not even sure that I was actually thinking about those attacks. It just...happened. It felt like my body was moving on its own, as if I’ve always known how to do that...”

“I told you, didn’t I? You don’t need to be taught,” Sooyoung repeated herself. As she proceeded to answer Hyejoo’s due confusion, the younger girl’s eyes fell upon the fictional weapon made real in her hands.

“Like we said, what you’re holding is the physical manifestation of your concept of a weapon. But that concept isn’t just it’s form and appearance—it’s also the concept of using it. Moving with it, attacking with it, defending with it...your fighting style is already built in. There’s no basics for you to learn. You already instinctively know how to use it and what to do with it. You can only improve from here.”

“So...I can fight?” Hyejoo said mostly to herself, still struggling to believe what she was truly capable of. “I can control my spiritus...and I can fight…”

“Makes you worth saving, wouldn’t you say?”

Jungeun’s comment brought Hyejoo’s eyes to her, presented with an earnest smile. “You don’t need to worry about not being able to contribute if you want to help us out. And, like Jiwoo explained, you can still have a safe place to live if you decide you don’t want to join our fight.”

Reminded of the circumstances, Hyejoo went quiet.

_A safe place to live…_

Hyejoo was eager for the security of safety. 

It would allow her to live out her promise to her mother—her promise to continue living for as long as she was meant to. However, with her eyes set upon her bladed creation in her hands, the other oath she made became just as prominent in her mind.

“Hyejoo…?”

Chaewon’s voice brought Hyejoo’s eyes to her. Light and dark settling next to one another as they peered at each other, Chaewon felt her heart sink at the sight of Hyejoo frowning anew. From the moment she had woken up in her lap, the sight of Chaewon had been a constant reminder for Hyejoo of the second promise she failed to keep.

Feeling the cool metal of her scythe’s shaft resting in her palms, Hyejoo realized the chance she had been given. In her grasp was the opportunity to keep not only her promise to her mother, but also her promise to the only other person she ever cared for, even if it came with a risk.

“Chaewon, can we talk in private?”

An odd request from Hyejoo displaced the atmosphere of the group. Gazes shifted left and right, looking at one another with uncertainty. Chaewon focused on Hyejoo, sensing a shift in her disposition. Nodding slowly, she accepted the request. “Yes, of course. If you all would excuse us…?”

The group broke off in two, the lost soul and her healer returning to the broken tree which Hyejoo had woken up by. Sooyoung and the others headed back towards the campfire and, with watchful eyes on the pair, seated themselves and waited patiently.

“What would you like to talk about, Hyejoo?”

Coming to a stop, Hyejoo turned to face Chaewon. Her grip on her scythe relaxing slightly, she looked down at it with dispirited eyes. “The Chaewon I knew...when I said she was someone important to me, I was being modest. She was…she was much more than that. Aside from my mother, she was the only person I was ever close to.”

Chaewon couldn’t find words as Hyejoo paused. Knowing that she couldn’t relate to the degree of tragedy she had suffered, she did not deign to interject, allowing Hyejoo the stage.

“We met through unusual circumstances, both of us doing something that we’d never do otherwise...in a way, it felt like fate,” Hyejoo started, her voice quieter than usual. “We spent more hours than I can remember playing games together. That’s where this scythe is from—the game we played most. But Sooyoung was right. To me, it wasn’t just some game.

“It was the source of my happiness. It was where I met her, where I spent most of my time with her. We played that game every day for four years, and every day, it was what I looked forward to most. At some point, I started to feel like spending time with her was all I ever wanted…”

A sniffle from Hyejoo broke her train of thought.

The girl of darkness released a hand from her scythe. Refusing to cry once again, she wiped her tears before they streamed down in full and brought her eyes to a still Chaewon. “I never got to say goodbye to her. Ever since I first woke up eleven months ago, I’ve wanted nothing but to see her again. I lied to myself, thinking she might still be alive. I searched and I searched, but...I know she’s not here anymore. No one is.”

Unconsciously, Hyejoo’s hold on her scythe tightened again. “Do you remember what I said earlier? How I made a promise to my mother to continue living, and that’s why I want to keep surviving?”

“Yes, I do,” Chaewon answered with curt respect.

“That wasn’t the only promise I made.”

With Hyejoo’s following words, Chaewon pinpointed it—the shift in the younger girl’s aura was the emergence of an unyielding resolve that rushed from her being in waves, seemingly fueled by the very sight of Chaewon in front of her.

“The Chaewon I knew...I promised her that we would never grow apart, and that I would always protect her,” Hyejoo said, her words heavily dripped in determination. “Whatever happened that let me survive even when everyone else didn’t...it gave me a second chance to keep my promise to my mother, but I could never keep those promises to Chaewon. Even if it wasn’t my fault, I had broken them forever...but now, they don’t have to stay broken.

“If I can fight...if I can become strong, then I want to keep my promise to her by doing the next best thing. It doesn’t matter if you’re another version of her. I want to protect you,” Hyejoo confessed, a vivacious tenacity bleeding through her tone. 

“Not that you need protecting...you’re all probably much stronger than I am. Still, even if I have a lot to learn, even if it puts my promise to my mother at risk, and even if you aren’t the Chaewon I knew...I want to keep all of my promises. I want to get to know you as the Chaewon you are, and I want to help keep you safe.”

Chaewon could not immediately respond.

The girl of light was without words as Hyejoo’s pertinacious hues crossed her own. With each second that passed in her stunned silence, she felt every beat of her heart with pronounced force. A serene warmth was encompassing her, flowing out from her core like the smooth waters of a tranquil river.

_This is something that needs to happen, because it can never happen again._

Jiwoo’s steadfast proclamation from her divination of Chaewon’s fate echoed in her mind. Doubts that had been growing in Chaewon’s mind were swiftly being tossed aside, and as she found herself anew, she gifted Hyejoo the most genuine smile she had to offer.

“Hyejoo...thank you.”

Hyejoo found ataraxia of her own taking shape as Chaewon bared her thoughts. The girl of light held her hands close to her chest, her eyes set upon the soil beneath their feet.

“The fact that I was a mirror image of someone so close to you...I couldn’t quite believe it. I feared my presence was only causing you pain, making you remember her face whenever you saw my own. Yet you’ve turned your sadness into strength, seeking to use it in order to fulfill a promise…Hyejoo, you’re already much stronger than you realize. You’re remarkable.”

Nodding to herself, Chaewon raised her sight up to Hyejoo’s. Reverence burst forth in the form of her relaxed countenance, visibly at peace. “I’ll rely on you, Hyejoo. I trust that you’ll keep me safe no matter what. It may take some time before you can join us on these excursions properly, however…”

Hyejoo’s eyes followed Chaewon’s. They stared at the tether of her mana linking them. “My sickness...corruption, right?”

“That’s correct,” Chaewon affirmed. “I need to continue purifying your manastream until you reach a low enough threshold. Due to the excessive amount flowing within you, it may take a few weeks, perhaps even a month or two. If I stop for too long at any point before that, your corruption will simply go back to what it was before I started. It would be similar to hitting a reset button.”

“That’s fine. That would give me some time to adjust to being around people again. I’ll probably have to practice a lot, too…”

“Yes, that’s true. We’ll take our time with it. Was there anything else you wanted to talk about, Hyejoo?”

“No, that was it. We can go back. Thanks, Chaewon.”

With hearts beating in shared repose, the two girls began to make their way back to the campfire. Their departure from their meeting spot was instantly responded to with the four sorceresses rising and walking forward themselves, meeting the two halfway.

“Everything good?” Sooyoung asked first.

“Yes, everything is fine,” Chaewon reassured the rest of the group, easing their still worried expressions. “There is nothing to worry about.”

“Have you made up your mind then, Hyejoo?” Haseul inquired, approaching the subject with care. “What would you like to do?”

“I’ll go with you.”

Hyejoo’s response was instant. She eyed her scythe in her hand, feeling its form one last time before she finally relieved herself of its weight. A conscious effort to will it out of existence saw the beginning of its vanishment, its edges turning to dust and the rest following. Hyejoo flexed the fingers of her now empty hands, closing one into a fist as she brought her mixed hues back up.

“My promises are important to me. I want to keep them until the very end. So I’ll go with you,” she repeated herself. Her conviction left a mark of impression on the others. Sooyoung especially found herself smiling widely at her effervescent indefatigability. “And when I’m ready, I’ll fight alongside you.”

Amidst the smiles which answered her stout resolve, Sooyoung procured a small crystal from the depths of her back pocket. Holding it between her fingers, she grinned as she showed it to Hyejoo. “Alright. Let’s get you home, then.”

At Sooyoung’s command, her frosty mana surrounded the crystal. Coalescing into a coat of ice which made it brittle, she crushed it with ease and released the mana within.

Hyejoo watched in a silent stupor as the mana moved of its own volition, taking a rectangular shape and becoming dense with haste until a door took physical form. She stepped forward, reading the ornate looking plaque which decorated its white front.

“Leyline-Oriented Organized Nexus of Alternatives, subset of the Broken Boundaries Coalition?” Hyejoo read aloud slowly, tilting her head more and more with every word. “That’s a mouthful…”

“Yeah, I know,” Jungeun agreed with her plight, rolling her eyes as she walked in front of Hyejoo and took grasp of the door knob. “Save yourself the trouble and just call it LOONA and BBC. Anyway, Jaden’s crazy naming conventions aside...”

A sea of light pouring forth from the door as Jungeun pushed it forward incited Hyejoo to raise her arms. Shielding her eyes, she lowered her guard as the light began to dim somewhat.

“...in we go.”

One by one, Hyejoo watched the sorceresses vanish into the sea of light. Jiwoo and Haseul followed Jungeun, and Sooyoung proceeded next. Chaewon approached the light, but not hearing footsteps behind her, she paused.

Turning around, she witnessed Hyejoo gazing out into the landscape. The girl of darkness was peering quietly at the horizon, her eyesight focused to its maximum. “Huh…?”

“Hyejoo? Is everything okay?”

“Just thought I saw something,” Hyejoo said with a shake of her head. “But it’s nothing, I’m sure. There’s nothing it could’ve been…”

Chaewon remained silent as Hyejoo came up next to her. She looked out to the rolling plains that surrounded them herself, and came to the same conclusion. “I don’t see anything either...the door will vanish if we take too long. Let’s hurry.”

“Yeah. Let’s go.”

With nothing and no one to say goodbye to, the pair of light and dark pressed onward into the sea of luminescence which escaped the door. Shut closed once they were safely on the other side, the door began to evaporate into dust from the top down, flying away with a gust of wind which caressed a now totally empty world.

Rather, it would have been totally empty were it not for the person who had been watching their departure. Far into the horizon, beyond where Hyejoo had been looking, a lone figure stood atop a hill. 

It was a middle-aged man, dressed in a nondescript black suit with an exorbitantly lavish watch on his wrist. With a deep diagonal scar across his face and an odd eye of faded dark gray, he stared forward and gazed in the general direction of the group’s campsite. Though it was beyond his vision, he was entirely focused on it, as if he had always known they would be there.

A brief exhale from the sorcerer brought forth dust in an ovular shape in front of him. His mana was a dark gray of the exact same color and appearance as the corruption which plagued the sky above him. The shape was simultaneously mirrored by more of his dust summoned right next to Jungeun’s campfire, the sorcerer finding the task of calling forth his mana at even such a great distance away trivial.

A murky flash of marred light from his odd eye gave birth to his effect. At both locations where his dust had materialized, portals came into being. They seeped an aura of mana which spun clockwise around their edges, and in the center of each stood the view from the opposing portal, creating a connected gateway.

Looking down at the distant campfire from the portal right in front of him, the man stepped into it. When he stepped out, he was in front of the campfire itself, crossing the noteworthy distance that separated him from it with a single step through the tear in space-time.

Now stood in front of the gentle blaze, the sorcerer contemplated the sight of it for a moment. A perfunctory breath saw the logs and flames alike completely enshrouded by an already dense cloud of his mana, coalescing with great speed into a clear triangular prism which contained it.

His empty gaze remained free of outward emotion as his odd eye flashed once more, causing the prism to suddenly collapse inwards. Shrinking down into nothing in the span of a second, it took the logs and fire with it, reducing them to a subatomic level as they blinked out of existence.

With the fire removed, the sorcerer proceeded to unveil a small crystal from his pocket. He repeated his effect, entrapping it in a prism that then crushed it to nothing, releasing the mana held within.

As a featureless door of black took shape, he unhurriedly opened it. Walking into the dark light which flew outward, he murmured to himself with a dissatisfied sigh of disappointment.

“Such a shame that the faithful replication of history involves your forgetful tendency to put that fire out every single time, Kim Jungeun…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading! i hope you found it enjoyable. for any questions or comments outside of AO3;  
> —https://twitter.com/Helseivich  
> —https://curiouscat.me/Helseivich


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